House Commission I Urges Komdigi Not to Hastily Block Wikipedia Login Access
Deputy Chairman of House Commission I, Dave Laksono, hopes the government will be more careful regarding the blocking of the login feature on the Indonesian online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.
The statement was made by Dave in response to the government’s action since 25 February to block the login feature on the subdomain auth.wikimedia.org, stemming from the policy on Private Scope Electronic System Operators (PSE).
“We assess that the steps taken by the government should be carried out with full caution. The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) needs to prioritise a communicative and persuasive approach,” said Dave when contacted on Sunday (19/4).
The Golkar Party politician understands that digital space governance is carried out in an orderly manner and in accordance with legal regulations.
Regulations regarding the obligation to register as a PSE are important instruments designed to ensure order, accountability, and protection of public interests.
On the other hand, Wikipedia also plays an important role as a source of open knowledge used by the public. So far, said Dave, Wikipedia has been the main reference in education, research, and daily information needs.
“Reducing access to this service will certainly cause unintended impacts on the public, especially in terms of literacy and openness of information,” he said.
Dave emphasised that his side supports the government in consistently enforcing regulations, but it must still be wise in choosing steps.
According to him, compliance with the law is an obligation, but maintaining public access to knowledge is a shared responsibility.
“With a firm yet solution-oriented approach, we believe that digital governance in Indonesia can run according to regulations, while still ensuring an open, healthy, and beneficial digital space for the wider public,” he stated.
Komdigi previously explained the restriction of access to the login feature on the subdomain auth.wikimedia.org. This step was taken because the Wikimedia Foundation has not fulfilled its obligation to register as a Private Scope PSE.
Director General of Digital Space Supervision, Alexander Sabar, emphasised that this action does not block all Wikimedia services.
“Access to the main wikimedia.org page and all information content remains available. The restriction only applies to the authentication feature, so users cannot log in or create new accounts,” he said in an official statement on Friday (27/2).
The access restriction means that Wikipedia account owners cannot access the website to edit or add new articles.
“Since 25 February 2026 at 08.00 UTC (15.00 WIB), access to the domain auth.wikimedia.org has been restricted,” wrote the @idwiki account of the Indonesian Wikipedia on X, Friday (27/2).
The obligation to register as a Private Scope PSE is regulated in Minister of Communication and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2020.
The regulation requires every electronic system operator, whether domestic or foreign, whose services are available and/or used in Indonesia’s legal jurisdiction, to register.
According to Alexander, an official notification has been sent to Wikimedia since November 2025, accompanied by two extensions until 20 January 2026.
Until the restriction was implemented on 25 February 2026, the registration obligation had not been fulfilled.