Indonesia reverses block of Tumblr after one day

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By Larry Banks

Since Tumblr and 477 other sites were blocked recently in Indonesia, apparently to restrict access to pornographic materials, the government has now decided to unblock the site for users in the country, according to local news outlet DetikINET.

The country’s ministry of communication and information reportedly said it had not blocked Tumblr, but is still concerned about porn on the site.

Tech site Mashable said it was told by an Indonesian user that he could access Tumblr on Thursday afternoon after it had been blocked for the previous two days.

The Indonesia government said it would ask Tumblr to self-censor its adult content, and that officials would continually monitor the site to ensure it meets their standards (so, officials volunteering to hunt for porn on Tumblr, sounds like a tough job!). Failing to do so would result in a ban across the country again.

The Yahoo! owned platform seems to have avoided the ban for the moment. Indonesia is the fourth most highly-populated country in the world and could be an important market for the microblogging site.

The firm must quickly find a way to filter out porn if wants to remain active in the country.

Last month, Indonesia’s state-owned telecom company Telekom, which provides service to more than half the population, blocked Netflix as the government said it hosted overly violent content.

SOURCE: DetikINET

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