The campaign teams of presidential candidates President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto have called for the closure of a website accusing the latter’s running mate, Sandiaga Uno, of having affairs with multiple women.
Prabowo campaign spokesperson Dahnil Simanjuntak urged the police to immediately look into the matter.
“Regarding the hoax and slander that has been spread on social media and the internet about @sandiuno, I would like to have National Police chief Tito [Karnavian’s] promise that he will take firm measures against those who spread hoaxes and slander during the campaign period,” Dahnil tweeted on Tuesday, adding that he hoped the police would not only act on slander against the incumbent.
Jokowi campaign spokesperson Ridlwan Habib echoed Dahnil’s sentiments.
“The Jokowi-Ma’ruf [Amin] campaign team asks that websites containing slander be immediately shut down,” he said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara. “The President’s campaign will be directed toward work programs and ideas. It is strictly forbidden to attack the other side.”
The Communications and Information Ministry said it had already taken steps to block the site.
“We received a request from the National Police headquarters at 9 a.m. to block the site,” ministry spokesperson Ferdinandus Setu said on Tuesday. “At 10:30 a.m., our system, which is connected directly to ISPs [Internet Service Providers], requested that the site be blocked.”
As of the time of writing, however, the website, which includes numerous articles and explicit images detailing the former Jakarta deputy governor’s alleged affairs, remains accessible.
According to data from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the site’s domain name was first registered on Sunday by Privacy Protect LLC, a United States-based company that replaces domain owners’ visible contact details with alternate contact information.
(source : thejakartapost)
