Indonesian Ministry of Communication Temporarily Blocks Steam, Epic Games, PayPal, Among Others

JAKARTADAILY.ID – The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) on July 29, 2022, blocked access to a range of online services for failing to comply with a new requirement related to content moderation laws.

The ten "Private Electronic System Providers" that were blocked include Epic Games, Amazon, Paypal, Yahoo!, Bing, Steam, Dota, CS GO, Battle Net, and Origin applications.

According to kominfo.go.id, the blocking was implemented because the 10 applications did not register with the private sector Electronic System Operator (PSE).

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The Director General of Informatics Applications (Aptika) of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, in a virtual press conference on Sunday, July 31, 2022 morning, apologized to gamers in Indonesia for the closure of game applications such as Epic Games, Steam, DOTA, Counter-Strike, to Origin.

However, Samuel said that Valve Corp. will soon register its platform as a private PSE. This means that platforms such as Steam, DOTA, and CS GO will soon be accessible again.

"Sorry, gamer friends, I am also a game player. Sorry for the time being, there are still problems and they are completing and committing to register immediately," said Semuel.

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Kominfo also temporarily blocked access to the PayPal page. Samuel said, Kominfo has given until Friday, August 5, 2022, or a maximum of five working days for PayPal users to transfer their funds to other platforms.

“We have temporarily opened (the PayPal website) as of Sunday, July 31, 2022, at 8 this morning. The process of opening (the site) has been carried out, now it can be accessed again, no later than 10 o'clock all can access throughout Indonesia," said Semuel Abrijani.

He also advised users to immediately migrate, so that the balance stored in PayPal is not lost.

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Overall, as of July 29, 2022, at 10.00 WIB, the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia (Kominfo) recorded that 5,394 PSEs had registered 8,962 Electronic Systems (SE) consisting of 8,680 Domestic SEs and 282 Foreign SEs.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has also sent a letter to Electronic System Operators (PSE) operating the Most Popular Electronic Systems (SE) on July 22, 2022, notifying PSE's obligation to immediately register SE which is operated within 5 working days from July 25, 2022.