WiFi Gratis Pemkot Solo Disalahgunakan Disorot Media Asing
Indonesian City to Citizens: Stop Using Free WiFi for Drugs, Prostitution
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
KOTA Solo di Jawa Tengah akhirnya menyadari bahwa layanan internet nirkabel gratis melalui WiFi yang dipasang di kantor walikota ternyata disalahgunakan.
Pejabat di Solo dibuat gusar - Presiden Joko Widodo pernah menjadi walikota di sini - kini membatasi akses internet setelah mendapati layanan gratis tersebut digunakan untuk mengedarkan narkoba, menonton film porno, dan prostitusi online.
Akses WiFi kini dimatikan dari pukul 18:00 sampai 4:00 pagi, dengan harapan akan membuat pengguna yang menyalahgunakan pada malam hari dapat dihentikan.
Pengurangan jam layanan juga dilaporkan untuk menjawab keluhan orang tua bahwa anak-anak berkerumun di sekitar kantor pemerintah provinsi pada larut malam untuk memakai internet gratis.
Penurunan layanan ini telah terjadi selama beberapa bulan namun pertama kali dipublikasikan belum lama ini.
"WiFi gratis disalahgunakan untuk prostitusi online," kata Taufan Redina, seorang pejabat di kantor dinas informasi dan komunikasi Solo, Provinsi Jawa Tengah.
"Itulah fakta yang kami temui sejauh ini," katanya kepada AFP, menambahkan bahwa "transaksi narkotika" dan transaksi lain yang patut dipertanyakan telah dipantau.
Tidak jelas bagaimana pemerintah daerah mengetahui apa yang pengguna lakukan dengan akses WiFi gratis mereka.
Pornografi ilegal di Indonesia, negara berpenduduk mayoritas Muslim terbesar di dunia, meski filternya di internet belum berhasil memblokir semua situs dewasa.
Pelacuran juga bertentangan dengan hukum dan hukuman berat untuk pengedar dan pengguna narkoba, termasuk hukuman mati untuk perdagangan manusia seperti dilansir MailOnline.
AN INDONESIAN city thought it was doing half a million citizens a good turn by making wireless internet free in government offices.
But red-faced officials in Solo -- where President Joko Widodo was once mayor -- have now cut back on access after it found some were using it to deal drugs, watch illegal pornography or engage in online prostitution.
WiFi access has been switched off from 6:00 pm through 4:00 am, in the hopes it will keep nefarious net users from tapping into the service at night.
The reduced hours are also reportedly aimed at dealing with parent complaints that kids were milling around district offices late into the evening to use the free internet.
This drop in service has been happening over several months but it was first made public this week.
"Free WiFi can be misused for online prostitution," said Taufan Redina, an official in the information and communication department for Solo, which is on Indonesia's main island Java.
"That's what we have encountered so far," he told AFP, adding that "narcotics transactions" and other questionable dealings have been spotted.
It was not clear how the local government knew what some users were doing with their free WiFi access.
Pornography is illegal in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority country, although its filter on the internet has not managed to block all adult sites.
Prostitution is also against the law and there are stiff penalties for drugs, including the death penalty for trafficking.
