Maverick Indonesia

Pak Menteri: “Dijawil saja…”

Whether you agree with the Indonesian Government’s actions in the Web, or not, you have to give it to Communications and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh.

Last week he was sitting on a couple of potentially explosive issues: the Government’s decision to block YouTube and other social networks because of the Dutch film on Islam called Fitna, and the passage of the Electronic Transaction Law UU ITE).

On a more minor scale, but perhaps more emotional because it is closer to the heart, was the fact that Bloggers were unhappy about Roy Suryo, the President’s technology advisor who has been responsible of a string of comments that bloggers felt were misleading and harmful to the image of bloggers in Indonesia.

So on Monday he called for a dialogue session with some of the more well-known and active bloggers in the country.

The discussion went smoothly, in an informal manner—as bloggers and Pak Nuh exchanged their views on many aspects of UU ITE and blogging activities. This law was meant to tive Indonesia some legal footing in cyberspace and was supposed to govern such things as pornography and electronic transactions, including internet fraud. Critics, however, say it contains some provisions that could potentially be used to curb freedom of expression.

Pak Nuh started the meeting by saying that he was concerned because the popular perception of the UU ITE was that it was concerned only with pornography. Pak Nuh explained that UU ITE was broader than that, and it also carries important rules regarding electronic transaction, system interference (can be caused by spamming), electronic signature, and many more.

The law was made to protect netters, not to hunt them, he stressed. The detailed result of the meeting can be read here or for those of you who want it in English, click here.

On the Fitna issue and the blocking of YouTube and other sites, Pak Nuh clarified that his formal letter to ISP providers instructed them only to block the YouTube site, not others. Pak Nuh also asked the bloggers whether any of them have technical advice for the ministry to increase the effectiveness of UU ITE, because he knows that the law is not perfect and still needs to be enhanced.

When asked about an expert who spread untrue and misleading information about bloggers to the public, Pak Nuh said, “My support towards bloggers can be seen since the first blogger’s day on October 27. Blogger is part of our family, and we grow together. If there are people who says otherwise, just poke (jawil) that person.”

Apart from what might come up after the meeting, Pak Nuh and Menkominfo has shown their open-mindedness and goodwill by engaging bloggers and hackers in a dialogue. The instant result? An increasing amount of likeability for The Minister

When we do our media handling skills training, we always said that to be a spokesperson, you need to demonstrate three qualities: authority, experience, and likeability. When you’re likeable, people will trust you, consider you as a friend, and tend to forgive you easier when you made mistakes.

I think as far as government officials go, Pak Nuh has been able to demonstrate a huge amount of likeability. Perhaps this is the reason why there is so little outcry in the blogosphere about the UU ITE and the blocking of the YouTube site?