Andika Julia Perdana Putra – The government's move to block the archive.org website has attracted support and opposition from the public. The website known as a digital archive was created specifically to preserve and provide universal access to all information on the internet.
A feature that is often used by users is the Wayback Machine. Where this feature is used to track old content whose existence is difficult to find or even lost from circulation. It is said that this feature has indexed around 916 billion websites from all over the world.
With the government's move to block access to archive.org, it is no surprise that this decision has raised a number of questions about the reasons behind it.
As reported by Tempo, the blocking of the website was confirmed by the Director General of Digital Space Supervision Alexander Sabar at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), who said that the block is only temporary.
There are two reasons that the ministry gave for blocking access to archive.org, namely the presence of content related to pornography and online gambling.
According to Sabar, the ministry has attempted to establish communication with the archive.org administrators but up until now archive.org has not responded.
Judging from how the website works, it makes sense that pornographic content or online gambling would be included in the archive.org index.
Aside from the above arguments, many people suspect that the reason for blocking the archive.org website is related to the government project to rewrite Indonesian history. This assumption however has been shrugged off by the ministry.
According to the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, the blocking of archive.org was purely due to its content and was not politically motivated or related to the history rewriting project by the Ministry of Culture.
The confusion surrounding the blocking of the archive.org website has received sharp attention from the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), a non-profit organisation that focuses on protecting digital rights in the Southeast Asia region.
SAFEnet questioned the government's real intention in blocking the site. According to SAFEnet, archive.org is not a site that harms any party. Archive.org actually provides for and facilitates the fulfilment of users' rights, including education.
SAFEnet further stated that this move adds to the long list of digital rights violations in Indonesia that are contrary to human rights principles.
Furthermore, SAFEnet is asking the government to unblock archive.org and all sites related to information services. Second, it is asking the government to review the digital content monitoring system including regulations related to it.
In addition to this, SAFEnet is also encouraging the government to involve the public in decisions on blocking websites. And finally, SAFEnet is asking the government to apologise for the blocking and provide compensation for losses included due to the block.
Despite being blocked, the archive.org website is still accessible to visitors using certain privacy settings. Otherwise, the website only displays an endless loading notification.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Pemerintah Blokir Archive.org, Langkah Perlindungan atau Upaya Menghapus Jejak Sejarah?".]