REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SEMARANG -- Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has emphasized that any effort to block alleged radical websites should be carried out selectively.
Of the 19 websites recently blocked by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics at the request of the Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), in fact, not all of them were promoting radical ideology, and therefore, some of them lodged protests, the minister noted here, Monday (7/4).
They protested because they have, so far, normally preached Islamic teachings to Indonesian Muslims, he remarked.
He stated that the freedom of expression should be respected.
"Therefore, we are grateful that the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has improved the blocking mechanism," he affirmed.
Before deciding to block a website, the authorities must focus on two areas, according to Lukman. First, the authorities must ensure whether the content is against the state ideology, and second, whether the procedure does not violate the law, he noted.
On March 29, 2015, the ministry blocked at least 19 websites, at the request of the BNPT in its letter number 149/K.BNPT/3/2015, stating that the online media sites promoted radical ideologies and were sympathizers of radicalism.
"We asked Internet service providers to block the websites this morning at the request of the BNPT. The agency analyzed the sites and found them spreading radicalism. So, we blocked them after we received a request," a spokesman for the ministry, Ismail Cawidu, stated on March 30, 2015.
The sites are arrahmah.com, voa-islam.com, ghur4ba.blogspot.com, panjimas.com, thoriquna.com, dakwatuna.com, kafilahmujahid.com, an-najah.net, muslimdaily.net, hidayatullah.com, salam-online.com, aqlislamiccenter.com, kiblat.net, dakwahmedia.com, muqawamah.com, lasdipo.com, gemaislam.com, eramuslim.com, and daulahislam.com.
The Indonesian police claimed that they had appealed to the BNPT to block the websites. The BNPT then put forth the suggestion to the Ministry of Communication and Informatics that later blocked the sites.
"We only made an appeal, following which the BNPT suggested it (the blocking) to the Communication and Informatics Ministry," spokesman for the National Police (Polri) Brig. Gen. Anton Charliyan remarked at the Police Headquarters on April 1, 2015.
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