Ismira Lutfia – Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring denied on Friday that he had called for government control over social media sites, saying his remarks a day earlier had been misquoted.

The minister was quoted on Thursday as saying in a speech that the government needed to act as a gatekeeper for the Internet, including social media sites, to stop the kind of social unrest that erupted in the Middle East.

However, in a clarification posted on his own Facebook page early on Friday and linked to his Twitter account, @tifsembiring, Tifatul said he had only called for the productive use of the Internet.

"I was calling on teachers to guide and control students in their use of the Internet, including the use of proper language," he said in the statement. He said he had made the call in light of the growing influence of social media on politics, economics and daily life.

Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, agreed that the minister had no intention of trying to control social media and was merely advocating its positive use.

"He was also suggesting that any legal woes resulting [from exchanges in social media] are individual consequences," he said. "So there's nothing to worry about."

The initial reaction to Tifatul's reported remarks were scathing, with Twitter users lambasting the minister. Even a legislator from his own Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) highlighted the preposterousness of trying to control social media.

Margiono, an advocacy coordinator for the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), acknowledged that in this case, the demand for instant news may have compromised the accuracy of the news.

The competition in the online news industry, he said, was driven by the number of hits that a "continuously running controversial issue" generated.

But Donny B.U., a senior researcher at Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Watch, which campaigns for the safe use of the Internet, said Tifatul should have spoken to the media outlets he thought had misquoted him and not made a clarification through social media. "It would have been better for him to use the proper channels instead of tweeting his defense," he said.

Wimar Witoelar, a political pundit and prominent social media user, said the government faced more immediate threats from private television stations owned by politically vested groups than from social media. He added social media could encourage "discussion to push the government to get on its feet fast" in addressing issues.