Indonesia Tries Banning Internet Porn, Hilarity Ensues

Well, it seemed like a plan.

As one of the heads of the Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association, Valens Riyadi knows he has his work cut out for him.

Last month, the country’s information minister, Tifatul Sembiring, said that local service providers would have to start blocking online pornography by the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts Aug. 11. That deadline is fast approaching, and Mr. Riyadi says he still has no idea how he is going to put a filter in place.

“It’s really a hard thing to do in technical terms,” he said. “For me, it’s almost an impossible task.”

Mr. Sembiring has won plaudits for pledging to curb online pornography in this Muslim-majority democracy of 240 million people, and for following regional peers like China, Thailand and Singapore into the fraught world of Internet screening. But the problem, Mr. Riyadi says, is that the minister’s plan is really no plan at all.

That was yesterday. Boy, did they have a surprise waiting.

Hardcore porn was broadcast on the Indonesian parliament's internal information service Monday, shocking journalists and bureaucrats who rely on the screens for updates on political events.

Hardcore images apparently taken from the Internet filled the screens used by reporters, political staffers and visitors for about 15 minutes before security guards managed to shut it off, reporters said.

It was not clear how the images appeared on the screens but House Speaker Marzuki Alie said whoever was responsible would be punished.

"Whoever hacked the screens is insolent and will be reported to the authorities," he told reporters.

They may die laughing before the morality police arrive.