Communications Minister Denies Restricting Wildfire Content

Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the ministry had not asked any social media platform operating in Indonesia to remove content related to information about forest and land fires (karhutla).

“There has been no removal of content, nor any request from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs to remove content in order to restrict information about forest and land fires,” Meutya said in an official press statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Meutya said information about forest and land fires shared on social networks by members of the public was an important source that could make the response more efficient.

She said the government itself used social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Meta’s Threads to share information about the fires as part of its public communications.

“The government is also amplifying information about forest and land fires through its social media channels as part of public communications. The government welcomes factual, credible and accountable information about the fires,” Meutya said.

In response to reports of restrictions on fire-related content that have been widely discussed online, the minister urged platform operators to disclose their algorithms transparently, including the limits set out in their community guidelines.

She said algorithmic transparency would help the public understand how platforms decide whether content is published or access to it is restricted.

“The Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs is instead encouraging platforms to ensure accountability and transparency in their algorithms. What we see and consume on social media should be a user’s right as a consumer to choose, rather than being determined unilaterally by technology companies,” she said.

Meutya added that people who believed their posts about forest and land fires had been restricted, or that they had experienced service disruptions on any social media platform, should submit a complaint or appeal to the platform.

She said the government could also receive reports of such cases and follow them up with the platforms concerned.