ID minister threatens to shut X down over adult content

Indonesia has reportedly said that it is prepared to shut down social media site X if it does not adhere to its regulations barring adult content.

Minister Budi Arie Setiadi reportedly told Reuters he had sent a warning letter to X related to the issue. 

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Setiadi reportedly said that he will shut X's services down if it does not comply with its electronic information and transaction (ITE) law that prohibits the spread of pornographic content. Offencers can be jailed up to six years if caught. 

Setiadi's comments come after X updated its policies to allow consensually produced adult content to be shared on the platform. 

"You may share consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior, provided it's properly labeled and not prominently displayed," it said in its guidelines released in May this year. 

It explained that it believes that users should be able to create, distribute, and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed.

"Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression. We believe in the autonomy of adults to engage with and create content that reflects their own beliefs, desires, and experiences, including those related to sexuality," it said. 

It added that it will balance this freedom by restricting exposure to adult content for children or adult users who choose not to see it.

"We also prohibit content promoting exploitation, nonconsent, objectification, sexualisation or harm to minors, and obscene behaviors. We also do not allow sharing adult content in highly visible places such as profile photos or banners," it said. 

Adult content is any consensually produced and distributed material depicting adult nudity or sexual behavior that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal. This also applies to AI-generated, photographic or animated content such as cartoons, hentai, or anime.

X has reportedly not responded to Indonesia's warning letter yet, according to Setiadi.

In tandem, Tiktok’s parent company ByteDance is reportedly cutting around 450 jobs in Indonesia following the merger of TikTok shop and local digital company Tokopedia in January.

According to multiple reports such as South China Morning Post, this marks the first round of layoffs since the merger and the cuts equal to about 9% of staff at the Indonesian division. The layoff will start as soon as this month, where the eCommerce teams including advertising and operations will be impacted, said the report. 

Photo courtesy of Noah Berger

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