JAKARTA: Alphabet Inc’s Google was among the last remaining tech platforms yet to comply with Indonesia’s new licensing rules late on Wednesday, hours from a deadline to sign up and avoid having its services blocked in the country.
Registration is required under rules released in late 2020 that would give authorities broad powers to compel platforms to disclose data of certain users and take down content deemed unlawful or that “disturbs public order” within four hours if urgent, and 24 hours if not.
With a young, tech-savvy population of 270 million, Indonesia is a top-10 market in terms of user numbers for a host of social media companies.
“We are aware of the regulation’s requirements, and are in the process of taking appropriate action toward compliance,” a Google representative said, without elaborating.
The communications ministry has said firms that do not register before midnight Wednesday will be reprimanded, fined, and then blocked — a decision that will be reversed once they sign up.
While the ministry did not say when the block would take effect, it is unlikely to be immediate.
Twitter was among the latest companies to be added to a communications ministry list of foreign providers that have signed up.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon the company said it had “taken appropriate steps to comply.”
Meta Platforms Inc’s units Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp registered on Tuesday, while Spotify, Netflix , and ByteDance’s TikTok have also signed up, the records showed.
The government says the new rules aim to ensure Internet service providers protect consumer data, and that online content is used in a “positive and productive” way.
But it can also compel companies to reveal communications and personal data of specific users if requested by law enforcement or government agencies.
Two sources at large Internet platforms said they remain concerned about the data and content implications of the regulation and the risk of government overreach.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia said some provisions were open to abuse.
“The consequence could be that news or content that reveals rights violations ...or investigative reports could be considered unsettling...by certain parties, or even by the government or law enforcement,” the alliance said on Twitter.
Google yet to register for Indonesia’s new licensing rules
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Google yet to register for Indonesia’s new licensing rules
- Registration is required under rules released in late 2020 that would give authorities broad powers to compel platforms to disclose data
Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ
- Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
- Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites
LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.
Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.
During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.
Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.
עיתונאים של CNN טורקיה נעצרו לאחר שצילמו את בסיס הקרייה@NoamIhmels pic.twitter.com/t8a5P9yXfw
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 3, 2026
Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.
Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.
After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.
The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.
Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.
Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.
