This week, the Indonesian government intensified their efforts to censor "negative" content on the internet by forcing ISPs (internet service providers) to enable content filters on search engines by default, which can't be switched off.
The new policy has seemingly been extended to Youtube as well, with many netizens now complaining that the video streaming site's restricted mode feature has been irreversibly switched on, limiting what they can watch.
Based on numerous social media posts, the Youtube restriction applies to users of certain ISPs, both on mobile internet and home internet. If your ISP has done so, then the settings menu on your Youtube account should show "restricted mode" switched on by the network administrator while the feature is greyed out so you can't switch it off.
Youtube already had strict regulations against overtly pornographic content, so the site's restricted mode seems to be especially overzealous, with netizens reporting that even Taylor Swift and K-Pop music videos are being filtered out.
While the government did not say anything about Youtube being included in their recent censorship push, some ISPs like Indosat Ooredoo have been replying to complaints from customers about the Youtube restriction, placing the blame on the government.
Telkomsel, whose customers have also complained about their Youtube being restricted, say that they can still switch it off by clearing the Youtube cache on their device and then logging in to the video streaming site/app.