'Tempo' editorial spirit survives on censor-free Internet
'Tempo' editorial spirit survives on censor-free Internet
JAKARTA (JP): Sacred writs of the Internet are that it is free
and uncensored. There currently exists no effective means of
suppressing information on the system.
Because of this the Internet has become a haven for many
prohibited, unsanctioned or even banned material not generally
available to the public.
The most famous and probably first case where the Internet has
provided a new lease on life for unsanctioned material is the
Tempo Interaktif (www.tempo.co.id) website.
Despite being banned by the government in June 1994, the
newsweekly's editorial spirit lives on through a website
maintained by several members of the editorial staff.
Unlike the magazine format, Tempo Interaktif requires no
publishing license (SIUPP) from the government and is thus free
from the immediate threat of censorship.
It may never reach the same readership as its predecessor, but
the addition of an English language version allows Tempo
Interaktif to tap into a new audience segment.
As the fear of repercussions is removed, political and social
debate on Indonesian issues thrive uninhibited on the net.
Several mailing lists and discussion forums exist where people
openly vent frustration or throw around ideas they would be
loathe to do in public here.
The most popular is the apakabar forum where dozens of
opinions are expressed daily.
Indonesia Daily News Online (www.uni-
stuttgart.de:81/indonesia/news/) is another homepage which
provides a daily menu of reports and other alternative writings
taken from the media, research institutions or other
contributors.
The issues mostly cover the "hot" political topics of the
moment.
They may be fun to read and sometimes informative but many of
these articles should be read discerningly. The very fact the
Internet is an open forum allows anyone to circulate articles
without proper reference or validated sources.
Realizing that it would be extremely difficult to try to stem
these discussion forums on the Internet, the government has so
far done little to suppress them. Officials have said the
government may take measures to regulate them yet it remains to
be seen what can actually be done.
The inability of any institution to control what goes on the
Internet has also made it a haven for unsanctioned political
groups in Indonesia.
Supporters loyal to Megawati Soekarnoputri's faction of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) have set up several homepages
to get their message out. Although the government has sidelined
her faction and prohibited it from taking part in the formal
political process, it can do little about these pro-Megawati
pages.
PDI Perjuangan (www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/345) provides
news articles and reports on various issues connected to the pro-
Megawati PDI.
Pictures
The Internet may be a center of intense political debate but
it also invites somewhat unflattering information about the
country.
One of the questions often posed by a non-Internet user is:
"Have you opened the Playboy page?"
The perception of the Internet as a medium for adult material
is a prevailing stigma.
As the number of Indonesian Internet users and websites
increase there is an attendant rise in the number of Indonesian
adult sites available.
Homepages like Indo Nona are among the dozen or so free sites
which distribute portraits of Indonesian women in the buff.
In the past month, new sites have croped up devoted to lists
of the Indonesian adult material available on the net.
These adult sites have become very popular, evident by the
number of "hits" they receive. Since January alone one of the
homepages has received nearly 187,000 hits. The popularity is
intensified by the fact that erotic pictures purportedly of
several Indonesian celebrities are available.
Whether these pictures are real or products of computer
manipulation is unknown.
Probably the most sleazy information about Indonesia which can
be obtained on the Internet is a guide for marauding males
looking for prostitutes.
A website maintained in the United States provides detailed
accounts of how to pick up the women in cities around the world.
A highly descriptive account is also available for Jakarta,
Surabaya and Bandung. It details prices and locations of various
nightspots. (team)