Ismira Lutfia & Putri Prameshwari, Jakarta – Following the public support he gained for his efforts to eliminate access to pornography on the Internet, the communications and information technology minister is now setting his sights on another medium: the BlackBerry.

Tifatul Sembiring has threatened to shut down BlackBerry services in Indonesia if its manufacturer fails to block access to pornographic Web sites on the smartphone.

But an IT expert on Wednesday said Tifatul's efforts were misdirected because Web sites could only be blocked by the cellphone companies providing Internet access to the devices.

Tifatul on Tuesday said the ministry had summoned representatives from the Indonesian office of Research in Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry, and requested them to restrict access to pornographic Web sites on the smartphones.

"We have asked them to do this, otherwise we will close down their operations here because they failed to comply with our laws," he said.

Muhammad Jumadi, secretary general of the Indonesia Telecommunications User Group, said he supported Tifatul's policy, but as long as its implementation came with clear procedures.

"Technically speaking, it is possible to apply such a regulation," he said, adding that since many people now accessed the Internet through their smartphones, the government should also address restricting access to pornographic material through BlackBerrys.

However, Jumadi said the filtering of offensive Web sites could only be done through Internet service providers or telecommunications operators. As long as there were clear guidelines from the ministry, he said, operators would be able to filter sites.

The BlackBerry Internet Service is made available in Indonesia through six major telecommunications operators, while the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is provided directly by RIM.

Tifatul acknowledged on Tuesday that the government still had a lot of work to do to restrict access to pornographic Web sites. "But we'll keep working on it, including perfecting the software and coordinating with the Internet service providers," he said.

Last month, Tifatul's plan to block offensive Internet content came under fire when several Web sites that were not pornographic could not be accessed for a few hours, presumably as a result of the filter.

But Tifatul has claimed victory, arguing that up to 90 percent of the pornographic Web sites on the Internet are now inaccessible in Indonesia. "I frequently check on them through my cellphone and they are now blocked," he said.

Considering the popularity of BlackBerrys among Indonesians, Jumadi said that restricting Web sites would not bother the average BlackBerry user. "I don't think customers of BlackBerry would be affected in terms of numbers," he said.