Indonesia seeks to ban gay apps and websites
Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, is to block up to 80 gay websites and apps including Grindr and Hornet, reflecting an increasingly hostile attitude towards LGBT people within the nation. The country’s Constitutional Court is also considering a petition that could make homosexuality illegal in Indonesia for the first time. Internet companies and campaigners for free speech believe the move is part of a broader attempt to counter the influence of US-based social media companies within the country. The decision poses a dilemma for Apple and Google, which have already been asked to remove apps.

Grindr, Hornet, and a total of more than 80 other apps and websites with LGBT content face a ban in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, following a closed-door interagency summit held Wednesday at the country's Ministry of Communications.

"The participants of the meeting all agree to block websites promoting LGBT," Aidil Chendramata, director of information security for the Ministry of Communications, told BuzzFeed News following the meeting. The panel included representatives from the Ministry of Human Development, the National Police, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which was represented by a member of the country's Muslim clerics association. "Most of the contents are leading toward pornography [and have] violated the law on pornography and the law on child protection," Chendramata said.

The move comes several months after the Ministry of Communication announced it would craft a ban on LGBT "propaganda" in March, part of an unprecedented crackdown on LGBT rights in the country. The Constitutional Court is separately considering a petition that could make homosexuality a crime in Indonesia for the first time.



The meeting was initially convened to review a police request to block Grindr and 17 other gay apps they allege were used by a child prostitution ring. But the meeting reviewed a broader list, said Ericson Siregar, an officer with the National Police Criminal Investigations Department who participated in the meeting, because the Ministry of Communication had "previously investigated gay applications" and identified dozens for "promoting LGBT."

"We would be pleased if the communication ministry blocked [gay apps] without hesitation because the smell of pornography is so strong on them, such as exhibiting nudity," Siregar said.

Human rights activists have been alarmed at the impact this has had on the LGBT community, but internet companies and free speech advocates say this crusade is part of a much bigger battle as US-based social media companies have become a major force in the country of 250 million people.

The decision to ban LGBT content is simply the low-hanging fruit, said a representative from one global internet company with offices in Indonesia, and an easy target for conservative figures.

“We should all be concerned when we see these kinds of decisions being made, to ban an entire category of apps,” said the representative, who asked not to be named due to his company’s sensitive relationship with the Indonesian government. “It’s easy to see them starting with gay apps, and then finding a way to censor other parts of the internet… It’s easy to see them banning anything that represents the US or American values, as they see it. That’s what we are afraid of.”