Yesterday’s news that Telkom, Indonesia’s largest internet service provider, was unilaterally blocking streaming video service Netflix (in order to “protect its customers” and “Indonesian business sovereignty”) was seen as terrible news by many people. But at least one company was able to turn it into a brilliant PR win.
“Can’t watch Netflix because it’s being blocked?” Then use MyRepublic’s connection now so you can be free to watch Netflix, sign up at https://order.myrepublic.co.id”
MyRepublic’s Facebook post quickly went viral, having been shared over 700 times at the time of writing. Seems like people are interested in an ISP that doesn’t treat them like children by deciding what is and isn’t appropriate for them to watch.
Of course, MyRepublic’s stand against Netflix censorship doesn’t mean much if the government decides to follow Telkom’s lead and forces all ISPs to ban the service.
Last week, Minister of Communication and Information Technology said he would not block Netflix but instead give the US-based technology company a month to comply with Indonesian regulations, including censoring content and setting up an Indonesian business unit that would pay local taxes.
Meanwhile, Telkom has generously proposed to lift their ban on Netflix, if the streaming service partners up with them, lets them censor Netflix’s content and release it through their own streaming service (which is currently very much threatened by Netflix’s existence). Could it be possible that Telkom’s reasons for banning Netflix were perhaps not purely about protecting the morality of their customers? Feel free to speculate.
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