Indonesia's Digital Ministry Lifts Wikipedia Editor Block After Wikimedia Registration
Jakarta — The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has confirmed that access to Wikimedia can only be normalised after the volunteer-managed Wikipedia editing platform registers as an Electronic System Operator (PSE).
The Director General of Digital Space Supervision at the ministry, Alexander Sabar, stated that Wikimedia has committed to fulfilling the digital platform registration obligations applicable in Indonesia.
“We appreciate the communication established by Wikimedia and its commitment to follow through with the registration process as a Private Scope PSE, and normalisation of access to affected services will be carried out after the registration process is verified,” he said, as quoted from the ministry’s website on Monday, 16 March 2026.
He explained that all electronic system operators functioning in Indonesia must register themselves, particularly Wikimedia, which already has millions of users.
“This provision is regulated under the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2020, which requires every digital platform that provides services, processes personal data, and operates and/or is used in Indonesian territory to register,” he said.
According to him, Wikimedia’s non-profit status does not exempt it from the responsibility of providing personal data protection. He also expressed appreciation for Wikimedia’s contribution in providing knowledge to the public.
“In the digital realm, security risks do not distinguish between organisational status, so accountability through official registration becomes important to ensure our digital ecosystem remains safe, trustworthy, and sovereign,” Alexander explained.
The ministry imposed restrictions on the login feature of the auth.wikimedia.org subdomain from 25 February 2026 because the Wikimedia Foundation had not fulfilled its registration obligation. As a result of these restrictions, Indonesian volunteer editors could not edit Wikipedia pages.