Indonesia blocks YouTube, calls for foreign country to change its laws

ISPs in Indonesia have acceded to government requests to block access to YouTube and other websites carrying Fitna. The minister had written to them, saying that the film could “disturb religious and civil harmony at a global level.”

Rather more disturbingly, Muslim leaders have held a meeting in Jakarta where they demanded that the Netherlands take legal action against Wilders. Apparently, the Dutch government’s statement condemning the film was not enough to assuage the anger of Muslim countries – the only thing good enough is a fundamental rewrite of the constitution.

People’s Consultative Assembly chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid:

The Dutch government must criminalize Wilders’ conduct. Freedom of expression has a limit

Indonesian Ulema Council deputy chairman Amidan:

We are still waiting to see what punishment the Dutch government will give Wilders, because the film has clearly insulted and disgraced Islam

Hamamah from Aisyiah, the women’s arm of Muhammadiyah:

This is not the first film (to hurt Muslims), so the Dutch government must have regulations to prevent similar movies from circulating

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin:

Such a film encourages the clash of civilizations between Islam and the West

Actually what “encourages the clash of civilisations” is the leaders of backward Islamic states thinking they have any right to dictate what goes on to the legislature of a liberal democracy. As long as they cling to this desperate delusion they will never be at peace with themselves.

UPDATE: (12 April) YouTube is back in Indonesia. Pressure from citizens and negative editorials from the press forced an apology from the Communications Minister Muhammed Nuh:

I openly ask the public’s forgiveness for the inconvenience caused over the past few days by the blocking of sites


4 Responses to “Indonesia blocks YouTube, calls for foreign country to change its laws”

  1. jr says:

    Have they said what they specifically object to in the film?

  2. marc draco says:

    @1: It exposes the Koran for what it is: that is abhorrent to them.

  3. Britannia says:

    Fitna using koranic texts is just like quoting some of the disgusting bits of the bible to christians, especially the KJ edition which condones wife beating, child killing, torture etc. I love doing this to ‘wind up’ religious nutters just to show how sick their dogmatic mythology is.

  4. marc draco says:

    Who-Raa! Number 3!

    Religious nutters rarely get a handle on how fucked up their text is (no matter which one you choose).

    There’s a *major* god-spot doing the rounds here right now; I’m sorely tempted to turn up and heckle!