Tag: regulatory
Indonesia blocks Steam, PayPal and other services over missed regulatory deadline
Indonesia is blocking residents from accessing various online platforms after those services failed to comply with a July 29th regulatory deadline, reports Reuters (via The Verge). Among the affected platforms are PayPal, Steam and Yahoo (owned by Engadget’s parent company Apollo Management).
Under the country’s 2020 MR5 law, companies labeled as “Private Electronic System Providers” had until this week to register with a government database or face an outright ban. Similar to India’s restrictive 2021 IT law, MR5 gives Indonesia the power to force online platforms to take down content the government deems unlawful or a threat to public order. In instances involving “urgent” requests, services have four hours to take action.
According to Reuters, a handful of tech companies, including Google, Meta and Amazon, rushed in recent days to meet Friday’s deadline. Indonesia may restore access to some of the online services that are currently blocked in the country, provided they register with the government.
PayPal and Valve did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, the general director of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information, told a local news network that the government could temporarily lift restrictions on PayPal to allow users to withdraw their money.
Organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Human Rights Watch have criticized Indonesia’s new content moderation rules. “[MR5] is a tool for censorship that imposes unrealistic burdens on the many digital services and platforms that are used in Indonesia,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal advisor at Human Rights Watch. “It poses serious risks to the privacy, freedom of speech, and access to information of Indonesian internet users.”
Many Indonesians have also come out against the law, using hashtags like “BlokirKominfo” to voice their opposition to the government’s actions. On Saturday, Pangerapan dismissed those criticisms, saying the measure would help protect the country’s internet users.
Regulatory Scrutiny Increasing as Crypto Becomes Financial Stability Risk – Report – Cryptonews
There has been a sharp increase in regulations targeting the crypto space, with regulatory bodies mainly in North America and Europe aiming for everything from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to stablecoins and ordinary cryptocurrencies, found a global RegTech (regulatory technology) firm CUBE.In a new report on the regulatory outlook for the crypto space, CUBE said that…
Crypto Price Check: Bitcoin Slips on Regulatory Concerns – TheStreet
Cryptocurrency prices were off Monday as investors reacted to regulatory efforts in both the U.S. and Europe.Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, was down 1.8% to $46,688.69, according to CoinGecko, while ethereum dropped 2.2% to $3,434.11. Dogecoin, meanwhile, was down slightly to $0.145628.Winston Ma, managing partner of CloudTree Ventures, Author of The Digital War – How China’s…
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