Indonesia's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry is set to implement a new $14 million Internet censorship system from Wednesday. The new system will automatically block pornography and other content deemed to be unsuitable by the government, following years of manual monitoring which has failed to adequately police the abundance of illicit online content.
The ministry's Information Applications Director General Semuel Pangerapan said the machine is equipped with artificial intelligence that will crawl websites and use keywords to detect inappropriate content.
"After the content is crawled, our team will evaluate and verify the data," Pangerapan told Arab News. "We will then block sites that are validated as carrying negative content. This machine will make our jobs a lot faster." The new system will enable the ministry to identify a range of negative content referencing topics from gambling, terrorism, fraud and drugs, to hoaxes and fake news, he added.
Indonesia introduces new Internet censorship system
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Over at Techdirt, Glyn Moody writes about Vietnam's Internet monitoring unit called "Force 47". The unit is a large team, around 10,000 in number, tasked with combating prohibited viewpoints, inconvenient facts, and anything against policy through monitoring, complaints, and astroturfing.
Facebook this year removed 159 accounts at Vietnam's behest, while YouTube took down 4,500 videos, or 90 percent of what the government requested, according to VietnamNet news, which cited Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan last week. The National Assembly is debating a cybersecurity bill that would require technology companies to store certain data on servers in the country.
Related: Indonesia Introduces New Internet Censorship System
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:06PM (10 children)
Reminder: Indonesia is the world's 4th most populous country, with no shortage of Internet users:
Sexual Harassment in Indonesia's Cosplay Scene [soylentnews.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:36PM
If you'll be my proxy
I can be your VPN
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Stan
Call me Stan
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:56PM (4 children)
Repressive, regressive regime is repressive, regressive. Film at 11.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:47PM (2 children)
Indonesia's current condition is largely due to USA.gov's Imperialism.
Bird Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty, USAF, Ret. has described[1] [google.com] how, in 1965, USAF transported tens of thousands of rifles to Indonesia on behalf of CIA.
Those were used to murder over a million of the population who were not in favor or USA.gov Imperialism and Plantation Capitalism.
[1] Typically, once a year, on his midnight to 6AM KPFK program, Roy Tuckman airs the audiobook [google.com] (over 3 nights).
It will then be in KPFK's audio archive for 2 months.
There's a film [google.com] where the mass murderers tell their stories.
There is no remorse, only pride in their heinous acts.
Indonesia is now one of the most violent, uncivil societies on the planet.
Indonesia is the end state of Capitalism (a Fascist Oligarchy). [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [dissidentvoice.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:38PM
I don't doubt it, considering that can be truthfully said of many other countries.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @12:09AM
Indonesia's current condition is largely due to USA.gov's Imperialism.
Oh please! USA, Russia, China... Pick yer poison! Such is life in the prison yard, babe
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Wednesday January 03 2018, @11:36PM
Well, maybe out of this will come better methods of circumvention, and more secure communication for all of us. *Route around the damage*. The internet is supposed to be able to do that, but when you're chained to an ISP as the single point of failure, there's not a lot of redundancy to help you out
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:23PM (1 child)
That makes me wonder how specific their blocking is... They probably can't block all of facebook, since 71 million people would notice, but they probably want to block a portion of it.
Also at what point are they no longer "internet users"? I mean if they can only access 10% of the net ...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:34PM
They could block the whole thing. It's a common tactic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Turkey#Blocking_of_Internet_sites [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Websites_blocked_in_Pakistan [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Indonesia#Censorship [wikipedia.org]
After WhatsApp threat, Indonesia steps up Internet obscenity purge [reuters.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @12:21AM
Before someone rants about how oppressive Indonesia is, it really isn't that much, especially considering the country's demographics. The majority population is muslim, one province fought a civil war to practice sharia in their corner of the country. And since freedom of speech is mostly given, the last thing the government wants is a bunch of good righteous muslims to start meeting and discussing how to address the problem of Western Filth entering their precious bodily fluids.
Just looked at my photo archives again from my visit to the customs museum in Malacca, Malaysia. Ethnically similar, one colonized by the English, the other by the Dutch. They displayed some of the contraband they seized. Rather low-def metal and wood statuettes of nudes had a (pretty) layer of fabric laid over the naughty bits, so they could be acceptable for display.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:30PM
No, Facebook has 42.3 million users in Indonesia. And 71.6 million of them are in the 18 to 34 demo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:19PM (2 children)
> and other content deemed to be unsuitable by the government
That's another way of saying anything not praising islam. Sharia is creeping outwards from Facebook and Twitter.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:44PM
A beheading will make you shut up! ALLAHLAHLAHLAH!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:44PM
At least it's not "White Sharia". https://i.imgflip.com/1ndrbi.jpg [imgflip.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:44PM (3 children)
I thought censorship was impossible when central authorities like Indonesia's ICT or the USA's FCC control access to the internet.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @08:51PM (2 children)
"The internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it," said some old gray neckbearded idealist dreamer.
"Redundant connectivity eats our profits," said corporate monopolists.
Single point of failure it is, then. Censorshit is so fucking easy in the really real world.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:00PM
actual photo of EFFing graybeard John Gilmore [wikimedia.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:21PM
Buuuut Mooooom! whined Millennials. The internet connection isn't working in the basement!
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:08PM (3 children)
"...our team will evaluate and verify the data,"
So they will be paid to read crap and look at porn all day.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:13PM (1 child)
Dude, I know, right? Can you believe proctologists get paid to look at assholes all day?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:24PM
In the next SN article, apparently Nvidia can train an AI to understand what a real face, and presumably other body parts look like. Then artificial but realistic looking images can be generated by said AI.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @09:29PM
Of course not, Soylent News isn't censored there...
(I kid... I kid!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:31PM
Big Brother is HAL
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:32PM
They're getting that Internet under control. Closing off parts of the Internet. Just like we will. We need to, folks. Because it's radicalizing our people. We're losing a lot of people to ISIS, because of the Internet.