Jakarta – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro's fears that social networking sites threaten national security are ridiculous, a defense official at the House of Representatives says.

"I am not concerned [about social networks]. In fact, to me, this statement was simply outrageous," TB Hasanudin, the deputy chairman of House Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and communication, said Friday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

On Thursday evening, Purnomo had said the Twitter microblogging site was among the non-military threats to national security.

"Currently, non-military threats are looming, including via Twitter and cybercrime," Purnomo said, without providing details of any actions the government planned to take.

Hasanudin said the government should not impose any filters on social networking sites, asserting that the spread of social networks in society was inevitable.

"Should the government impose filters, the ruling could backfire with the growing spirit of democracy [in Indonesia]," Hasanudin said.