Indonesia Temporarily Stops Blocking Paypal

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology temporarily opens the PayPal service so people could transfer their funds from the platform. The block opens on Sunday, July 31, 2022, this morning. 

"As of this morning, we opened PayPal so that people can migrate," said the Director-General of Application & Informatics, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, in a virtual press conference on Sunday.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics blocked the PayPal service on Saturday, July 30, due to the platform not registering as an electronic system operator (PSE) in Indonesia. The PayPal blocking received protests from the public. They express it through social media. 

PayPal is a service to send funds from abroad widely used by those who work with foreign companies, freelancers, or content creators. Through social media, some users claimed to be annoyed and confused because they still had some funds in PayPal, however, they could not be disbursed because the platform was blocked. 

According to Pangerapan, PayPal was temporarily opened at 8.00 Western Indonesia Time this morning, after seeing the condition and input from the community. This temporary opening is carried out for five working days until August 5 at 23:59. 

Pangerapan asks the public to make the most of the five days, whether to move their funds from PayPal to another platform or ask those they work with to send funds to services other than PayPal. PayPal, according to him, has not yet communicated with the Ministry of Communication. If by the time limit specified PayPal still has not registered, the service must be blocked again. 

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has blocked several sites and services since Saturday because they did not register as PSE operating in Indonesia. The blocked services include Yahoo Search, online games Steam, Dota 2, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and digital distribution platform Origin.

Steam Contacts Government

The Steam application shows a commitment to registering as an electronic system operator, responding to the concerns of local game developers releasing games on the platform, after its access was blocked by the government. Steam hasn't registered with the government yet.

"For (local game developers) who distribute via Steam, we ask to wait a moment. We have had communication with Steam, they are preparing registration," said Pangerapan.

Kominfo blocked the online gaming platform Steam since July 29 for not registering by the time limit. This blocking is not only troubling for consumers, especially those who have already paid a subscription fee, but also for local game developers. A number of games made by local developers were released on Steam, including Dreadout, She and The Light Bearer, and Coffee Talk.

The blocking of Steam also creates new problems because a number of games that have registered as PSE, however, are still unplayable because they are accessed from the platform. Pangerapan said that since it was blocked yesterday, Steam has sent a letter to them and is committed to registering as an electronic system operator.

"Sorry for game developers and players because there are still problems, they (Steam) are completing and are committed to registering soon," said Pangerapan.

Kominfo stated that they support the local game industry, one of which is collaborating with game associations in conducting training. In addition, Kominfo also scheduled an event in Bali in the form of a meeting between local game developers and potential investors.

Steam is one of the platforms that communicate with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics after it was blocked last Saturday. In addition to Steam, Kominfo stated that Dota 2 and Counter-Strike Global Offensive have also sent letters regarding this PSE registration obligation. Four other companies whose services were blocked have not communicated with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics to date, namely Epic Games, Origin, Yahoo, and PayPal.