Popular microblogging site Tumblr has been blocked by Indonesian authorities after complaints about pornographic content on hundreds of accounts.
The communications ministry sent an email to Tumblr on Feb. 28 asking it to “clean its platform” of pornographic content within two days, Noor Iza, a spokesman for the ministry, said in a text message.
It then blocked eight Tumblr domain names on Monday after he said it had not received a response.
Indonesia has tough anti-pornography laws and the ministry said it had received complaints about pornographic contents on more than 360 accounts.
Tumblr, which is part of Verizon’s Oath business, which also includes Yahoo and AOL, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to the site’s community guidelines, any sexual or adult-oriented content should be flagged as “Not Suitable for Work” to warn users of the material.
The block comes amid the country’s efforts to police online content after a rise in hoax stories and hate speech and because of anti-pornography laws pushed by Islamic parties.
The Indonesian communications ministry has already blocked more than 70,000 sites displaying “negative” content such as pornography or militant ideology in January with a system using 44 computer servers to help purge the internet of material deemed harmful.
Source: The New York Post
Photo courtesy of The New York Post