Alifia Sekar, Jakarta – The Communications and Information Ministry is planning to "take care" of Elaelo.id, a website that claims to be a social media site that emerged and went viral following the government's announcement of its intention to block X because of its pornographic content.
The website has been widely discussed in the past week among social media users, who have alleged that the platform was created by the government to replace X in Indonesia.
But Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said on Wednesday that the government had nothing to do with the website. The ministry suspects that Elaelo is a phishing website that was made to fool or mislead users to pass on their confidential personal information.
"[We] are trying to find out [what parties are behind the site]. [The government] will take care of the site," the minister said as quoted from Kompas.com.
He added that the website would be gone soon. But the website was still accessible as of Thursday noon. When The Jakarta Post accessed the website, it displayed a black screen with the state's Garuda Pancasila emblem in the center.
"Ela Elo Is Coming, Big Features Will Be Ready," read the text displayed on the website.
The page also contained text saying that the platform was "under construction by democracy fighters" and claimed to be "under the supervision of the Communications and Information Ministry."
No other information about the platform, including how to sign up or log in, could be found on the page.
The ministry previously warned of the possibility of blocking X after the platform updated its policies on June 3 to formally allow consensual adult content, as long as it is clearly labeled as such.
The ministry's information and public communication director general Usman Kansong argued that the country had laws that prohibited pornographic content on all platforms, such as the Pornography Law and the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.
He asserted that the government would not hesitate to impose sanctions on the social media platform – ranging from warnings and removing content to blocking access to X – for violating the regulations.
But on Tuesday, Budi clarified that his ministry had no plan to block access to X in Indonesia. However, he reasserted that the platform still needed to comply with the regulations by not showing content related to pornography or online gambling.