Communications Minister Urges Social Media Algorithm Transparency, Asks Users to Report Issues

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid has raised concerns about social media algorithms amid allegations of shadowbanning of content related to forest and land fires. She said the ministry continues to push platforms to be transparent about their algorithms.

What people see and consume on social media should be a matter of choice for users, she said, rather than something controlled unilaterally by technology companies.

“Regarding allegations that information about forest and land fires is being restricted on the basis of platform Community Guidelines, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs is continuing to push platforms to ensure accountability and transparency in their algorithms,” Meutya said in an official statement, quoted on Thursday (22 October 2026).

“What we see and consume on social media should be the right of users as consumers to choose, not something dictated unilaterally by technology companies,” she added.

Meutya said the public was also encouraged to submit complaints or appeals to social media platforms if they believed their service had been disrupted. They should also report the matter to the ministry.

“If anyone believes there has been a service disruption affecting posts about forest and land fires on Meta, TikTok or another platform, submit a complaint or appeal to the platform concerned and report it to us as well,” she said.

In the statement, Meutya denied that the ministry had requested the removal of content to limit information about forest and land fires in several parts of Indonesia.

She said information about such fires was also important to the government because it could help inform the response.

“The government is also increasing information about forest and land fires on its social media channels as part of public communications. The government welcomes factual, credible and accountable information about these fires,” she said.

Allegations of shadowbanning – in which the reach of content is reduced – have recently emerged in relation to posts about forest and land fires on several social media platforms. This has significantly reduced engagement with the content.