Indonesia awaits X response on appointing official representative

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Communication and Informatics is awaiting a response from X regarding the ministry's request to appoint an X official representative to Indonesia.

Deputy Minister of Communication and Informatics Nezar Patria stated that his ministry had communicated with X and sent an official letter to discuss the issue.

"We have established communication. We only need to wait for a follow-up," he noted in Yogyakarta on Friday.

Patria remarked that in general, the letter contained a request to X to meet the criteria to have an official representative while other platforms have appointed their official representatives to the country.

This step is deemed necessary to provide a sense of justice for other digital platforms as electronic system providers (PSEs) that have representatives and official offices in Indonesia.

According to the deputy minister, the government had yet to decide on blocking access to X, as the platform is still cooperative in communicating.

On Wednesday (October 9), Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi highlighted the importance of X emulating other digital platforms to have an official representative in Indonesia.

"Other platforms, such as Meta and Google, have established a representative office here. Hence, why should they (X) not? If we leave this issue unaddressed, the government could be deemed unfair in business," he remarked at the office of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

Setiadi noted that his ministry would issue a provision necessitating digital platforms operating in Indonesia to have a local representative office.

The presence of a representative office is deemed important as it would make it more convenient for the government to communicate with such platforms on matters related to the national digital sector.