A top official in Indonesia is reportedly threatening to shut off the whole country from Facebook if he receives proof that citizen’s data is being collected for profit or the platform is not doing enough to suppress false news.
“If I have to shut them down, then I will do it,” Communications Minister Rudiantara said recently, according to Bloomberg. “I did it. I have no hesitation to do it again,” he continued, referencing his ceasing of operations for the cloud-based messaging app Telegram because it purportedly did not remove “radical” content fast enough.
Rudiantara is especially worried about the prospect of Facebook somehow corrupting the outcome of the upcoming presidential election in the country. And the ostensibly stern warning applies to others in the social media industry like Google, its subsidiary YouTube, and Twitter.
Facebook is currently dealing with an onslaught of criticism from the larger public in the U.S., as well as American lawmakers, with the possibility of some form of federal oversight growing by the day. Much of the concerns of Rudiantara and Indonesia are similar to those in America, like user data privacy and manipulation of its services and features.
Read more at the Daily Caller.
Something we should consider here in this country. If they can’t keep us safe from data theft and decide they have the right to pick who’s free speech they will allow they have to be reigned in.