Indonesia blocks Tumblr because it hosts pornography
'We must ban the site first and tell them later,' an Information Ministry official tells the BBC.
Indonesia has banned Tumblr, the internet's GIF factory and pizza pleasure palace, because the site hosts pornographic content, the BBC reports. Indonesia's Information Ministry apparently didn't consult Tumblr or its parent company, Yahoo, before blocking the site. "We must ban the site first and tell them later," Information Ministry e-business director Azhar Hasyim told the BBC.
Along with hosting adult content, Tumblr holds live chats with astronauts in space, offers a quick way to make and search for GIFs, supports conversations about mental health, and it even has a clothing line. Yahoo bought Tumblr in 2013, though so far the site hasn't brought in as much cash as Marissa Mayer and co. had hoped.
Indonesian media says authorities recently banned nearly 500 sites in a broad crackdown, and earlier this month the Information and Communication Ministry demanded app maker Line remove LGBT-friendly stickers from its store. The country's largest internet service provider, a state-owned company called Telekom Indonesia, blocked Netflix in January over concerns about the content it offered. "The issue is about the permit," an official said at the time. "They don't follow the rules. They also display violence and adult content."
