Minister Hafid Focuses on Handling Internet, Data Problems in Indonesia

Jakarta, VIVA – Indonesian Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid to focus on creating a safe digital space and actualizing equitable internet access and quality in the first 100 days of her service.

Speaking in connection with securing Indonesia's digital space at her office in Jakarta on Monday (Oct 21), the minister highlighted her commitment to combating increasingly popular digital crimes, such as online gambling and illegal online loans.

She then alluded to the importance of implementing programs oriented toward ensuring the safety of children on the internet.

Minister Hafid stressed that the government would exert all-out efforts to safeguard Indonesian children from various acts of misappropriation of the digital space, especially those related to pornography, violence, and human trafficking.

The former speaker of Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR) then drew attention to equitable and reliable internet access, revealing her plan to visit Indonesia's underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas alongside her deputies, Angga Raka Prabowo and Nezar Patria.

In this regard, the minister underscored the gap in internet speed among regions despite most Indonesians having already enjoyed access to internet services.

Furthermore, Minister Hafid emphasized her commitment to advancing the digitization of bureaucratic and administrative affairs to achieve efficiency in public services as mandated by President Prabowo Subianto.

She then elaborated on the reason behind the transformation of the Communication and Informatics Ministry into the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs.

According to the minister, the transformation serves as the new government's means to adjust to the increasingly digitized world, noting that President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka have put forward digitization in their Asta Cita (Eight Aspires) document.

Minister Hafid was among the 48 ministers of the Red and White Cabinet inaugurated for the Prabowo-Gibran administration at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Monday morning.