JAKARTA: US payments firm PayPal has registered as an electronic systems operator in Indonesia and its customers can now access its services, the company said on Wednesday.
PayPal was one of several websites that Indonesia blocked at the weekend because of their failure to comply with new licensing rules.
Companies were given a July deadline to register under new rules that would allow authorities 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.
Johnny G. Plate, Indonesia’s communications minister, on Wednesday urged people to avoid using unregistered services “to minimize a loss that may incur, if...illegal acts occur in those private services.”
The Communications Ministry said it also unblocked access to services of the search engine Yahoo and video-game company Valve Corporation, including Steam and Dota 2, on Tuesday after it said it had blocked them on Saturday.
The new licensing rules have courted controversy as activists and the public fear that the government may police social media content.
Though the licensing rules were first introduced in 2020, companies like Meta Platforms Inc. and its units — which include Instagram and WhatsApp — as well as Alphabet Inc’s Google registered just hours or days before the deadline in late July. Spotify, Netflix, and ByteDance’s TikTok have also signed up.
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.
PayPal registers to Indonesia’s licensing rules, access unblocked
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PayPal registers to Indonesia’s licensing rules, access unblocked
- PayPal was one of several websites that Indonesia blocked at the weekend because of their failure to comply with new licensing rules
Book by jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti set for November release
- Prison letters, photographs and other documents to feature in the book
DUBAI: A new book by jailed Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti is set for publication in November, with Penguin confirmed as the publisher, The Guardian reported.
Titled “Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine,” the book brings together a selection of Barghouti’s writings, including prison letters, interviews, public statements, conversations with public figures, and other documents and photographs.
It also features excerpts from his book “1,000 Days in Solitary Confinement,” which has so far only been published in Arabic.
Fadwa Barghouti, who wrote the introduction to the book, said she hoped it would allow the world to hear her husband “in his own voice, not through the noise surrounding him.”
She said in a statement: “This book finally makes that possible — and I hope it helps people understand who Marwan Barghouti truly is, and how he embodies the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity.”
Barghouti, who has spent over two decades in Israeli prison, is a member of the Fatah party. He has long advocated a two-state solution and is widely regarded as a powerful and unifying voice for Palestinians, with many supporters describing him as “Palestine’s Mandela.”
His detention has prompted repeated international advocacy efforts over the years.
In December 2025, an open letter calling for his release was signed by hundreds of celebrities, including Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O’Connor, Mark Ruffalo and Stephen Fry; and musicians Sting, Paul Simon, Brian Eno and Annie Lennox.
In November 2025, his family and several UK-based human rights advocates ran a campaign that included demonstrations and public art installations in Palestine and London.
Barghouti has been jailed by Israel since 2004, having been handed five life sentences plus 40 years for his role during the second Palestinian uprising. He has spent significant time in solitary confinement, has been denied visits by his family for three years, and has been denied access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
His name was on a list of prisoners to be exchanged for Israeli captives in October 2025, but Israel declined to release him.
