Inspection of the Instagram–WhatsApp Office: Meutya raises Compliance Concerns
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Minister of Communications and Digital, Meutya Hafid, explained why her ministry conducted an inspection at Meta Indonesia’s office on Wednesday afternoon (4 March 2026). She said they had undertaken numerous communications efforts, up to the inspection itself.
“This afternoon we conducted an inspection at Meta’s office. This is a follow-up to Article 40 of the Information and Electronic Transactions Law, which states that the government is tasked with protecting public safety and the public interest from all forms of disruption caused by misinformation and disinformation,” Meutya said in Jakarta.
“And we are doing this after various government communications with META, whether formal, persuasive, and eventually we were compelled to inspect. Because many compliance measures have not been implemented. We know disinformation is not only a problem in Indonesia, but globally,” she added.
Several requests were made of Meta regarding openness of the algorithms, content moderation, and reporting of issues that require reporting. One area that could not be answered concerned the number of people monitoring disinformation content.
The discussions encompassed disinformation and misinformation related to health. She explained there have been many complaints from doctors and others in the health sector about the impact of such news on the deaths of children.
Meutya also confirmed reports of anti-vaccination movements on social media.
“But that is just one of the pressing issues, and it cannot illustrate how society becomes polarised, how people hate each other across groups, and how it undermines unity and democratic values,” she said.
Other content concerns digital crime. The most common are scams and digital fraud.
Meutya explained that victims of these scams also come from the lowest levels of society, whose livelihoods are already difficult.
Finally there is disinformation about the government and development. According to her, this disinformation does not arise from the government against the people, but rather it pits people against each other.
“Do not interpret this as a rift between the government and the people; rather, disinformation that sows discord pits not only the government against the people, but the people against the people. Polarisation that ends in hatred between one section of society and another. And the government certainly cannot stay silent and must act on this,” she said.
Meutya said Meta’s compliance level was below 30%. The ministry is now awaiting commitments from the company.
In addition to Kominfo, attendees included the Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Kemenkopolkam), the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) of the Police, and the TNI’s Cyber branch.
Bernie Moestafa, Meta’s Head of Public Policy, explained that the platform aims to remain safe for all members of society. Commitments have also been given to the ministry to be followed up on.
“We have already given commitments to follow up on what was discussed and what was conveyed by the Minister to implement the improvements that are hoped will make our platform safer for all of us,” Berni said.