The people living in our neighboring Indonesia are probably having a pretty bad time, especially if they use online services from outside the country. Access to a number of online services like Steam, Epic Games, and even PayPal, among a slew of others, have been cut as part of the enactment of a new law in the country.
Said law requires online platforms and services to apply for a permit to continue operating in the country. Companies, be they local or foreign, will have to register or have their online services blocked. And that’s exactly what happened to many video games-related services.
Naturally, there has been immense backlash to the blocking of the affected online services. Especially in the case of PayPal, a more recent report states that Indonesia is temporarily opening access to the platform to allow users to access their money. This access will only remain open for five working days.
Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, an official with the Indonesian Communications Ministry, was quoted as saying “Hopefully that is enough time for users to migrate, get their money and find other services”. He also says that there has been no communication from PayPal, suggesting that the company has yet to register since the initial blocking.
Steam, PayPal, Battlenet, Epic Games and other websites have been banned in Indonesia 😐 pic.twitter.com/cJua1JQKDC
— Team Secret (@teamsecret) July 29, 2022
According to the initial report, the deadline for registering for this license had been extended to as recently as last Friday, 29 July. Other major online platforms and services like Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp made the deadline.
Unfortunately for gamers, video game-related services like Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net, Ubisoft, Nintendo and even EA’s Origin were not among the list, according to IGN. The report also says that Indonesian gamers are advising each other to circumvent the block using the usual means like using VPNs or changing their DNS. For now, it is unclear if these will become available if they get registered in the future.
(Source: Reuters [1], [2], IGN)
