Papua is the largest and easternmost province in Indonesia, bordered by the state of Papua New Guinea to the east, the province of West Papua to the west.
Following protests that gripped West Papua for more than a week as racial and political tensions turned violent, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology decided to blackout the internet in the region to prevent misinformation to spread, starting August 19th.
The Ministry initially promised to stop the blackout on that same day by midnight, as long as the situation in Papua improved. However, the blackout was prolonged, fueling anger for people in the region, to even made a subpoena being filed to the Minister.
The blackout that was meant to curb misinformation backfired as information was made scarce.
But still, the Ministry’s Acting Head of Public Relations Bureau Ferdinandus Setu said that the measure is in place until security in the provinces can be restored.
This was because according to the Ministry's evaluation, the situation in several places in Papua and West Papua provinces, hoaxes related to racial discrimination are still widespread, despite conditions being conducive.
"To date, people in that provinces can still communicate by using phone call and SMS," said Ferdinandus in Jakarta.
From its report, the Ministry identified and verified about 33 contents and 849 links to hoaxes, as well as provocative speeches related to Papuan issue as of August 31st.
Those misleading information has been shared by hundreds of thousands of times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Since hoaxes can worsen the already tense situation, the Ministry urged the public to not spread questionable information with no reliable sources.
Hate speech could separate the nation based on SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and group affiliation).
But the community in general, as well as journalists, organizations and many others in Indonesia collectively said that the blackout is flawed.
This is mainly for two particular reasons: it exacerbates the isolation of the already isolated region, Second, it breaks the principle of accountability.
West Papua, which is located on the island of New Guinea, is a former Dutch colony that was originally, and temporarily designated as part of Indonesia upon the withdrawal of the Dutch administration.
A 1969 referendum on the province’s autonomy, that is recognized by the international community, is rejected by many Papuans. For years, the region has experienced numerous “Free Papua” campaigns.
And this internet blackout was seen to create problems than is solves.
Not only that people in Papua have already endured isolation for many years, this decision by the Ministry to blackout the internet caused concerns, because Indonesia as the world's largest archipelago, is already and steadily growing, mostly in the western part of the country in Java and Sumatra.
On that region, resides 77 percent of the country’s internet users, according to Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association (APJII) data from 2017.
With that in mind, the purpose of preventing the circulation of misinformation in Papua through internet blackout was seemed to be unnecessary, and also to the fact that the internet quality in the region is already low.
There are only 4,644 base transmission stations (BTS) in Papua, or just over 10 percent the number operated by state-owned telecommunications company Telkomsel in Jakarta and West Java.
The internet is seen as a technology capable of circumventing physical isolation inflicted by a lack of basic infrastructure.
And people in Papua is benefiting from the internet in ways more than those in other parts of Indonesia, as in many cases, the internet can also save lives, and prevent human rights abuses from escalating, as the internet allows Indonesia, and the world, to watch Papua.
Previously in Indonesia, the Ministry had instructed a temporary blackout on certain websites and platforms, most notably Facebook and Twitter after clashes happened after the General Elections Commission (KPU) back in May.
