REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Islamic organization in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah, has asked the ministry of communication and information technology (Kemenkominfo) to block Grindr application. The app claimed itself as the world number one free mobile social networking just for gay, bi, and curious man.

Muhammadiyah believed Grindr has bad impact for Indonesian. Therefore, blocking should be done immediately.

General Secretary of Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu'ti said the government must not wait for an excuse to block Grindr. Moreover, the police has revealed that the application was used by the suspects who trade children as gay prostitute in Bogor, West Java.

"Do not wait until there is another case, the destruction of the nation should not be allowed," he told to Republika on Thursday (9/8).

According Mu'ti, the ministry should take preventive ways without waiting casualties to happened. Kemenkominfo should be active and proactive to monitor deviant sites and pornographic content. Otherwise, he said, the case in Bogor is possible to spread to other places in Indonesia.

However, Mu'ti continued, prostitution issue for gay groups have not received adequate attention. People and officials still view prostitution and human trafficking only involving women and children. The existance of gay prostitution was very surprising.

Mu'ti added that the government and the authority do not have to worry about Freedom of Information Act in order to block the gay app. Because, he said, the negative impact of it was clear with the unfolding of Bogor case involving dozens of children as victims.

Previously, the ministry claimed blocking the app is not necessary since the suspect of Bogor based online gay prostitution network was using Facebook, not Grindr, to do the transaction. 

Kemenkominfo spokesperson Noor Iza said the ministry is still investigating the application. He wanted to be cautious in taking the next step. "Blocking can’t be done rashly," he said.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika