Signs of Authoritarianism: Blocking Wikipedia

Tempo.co Editorial, March 9, 2026

As time passes, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the government is showing signs of authoritarianism. These signs are not marked by dramatic systemic changes but rather by the implementation of incremental, regulatory changes.

The most recent example is the blocking of access for Wikipedia authors and editors to add and correct information on Wikipedia since February 25, 2026. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs announced that the blocking was a restriction implemented because the Wikimedia Foundation, the not-for-profit foundation that manages Wikipedia, has not registered as a Private Electronic System (PSE) organizer.

The government argued that the blocking only affected the authentication feature, preventing users from logging in. The problem is that thousands of contributors in Indonesia have lost access to Wikipedia. As a result they are preventing the production of public knowledge, which relies on active citizen participation.

In fact, the suspension of Wikipedia’s knowledge curation function is not only detrimental to the public but also to the government, which claims to be battling hoaxes and disinformation. Despite its limitations, information on Wikipedia remains relatively reliable because all content must come from trusted secondary sources. In addition, content is validated by editors, while contributors are identified and subject to community guidelines.

Wikipedia has long been a leading source of knowledge for the public. The Indonesian-language Wikipedia site has reached 159 million visits per month. Wikipedia already provides over 750,000 Indonesian-language articles.

Prior to blocking Wikipedia, the government failed to engage in dialogue or seek an administrative solution. Instead, it implemented the Minister of Communication and Information Technology’s Regulation on Private-Sector E-Commerce based on its interpretation. Yet, Wikipedia is not a for-profit commercial enterprise.

Consequently, we can conclude that the blocking of Wikipedia is part of a pattern of digital authoritarianism that the government continues to perpetuate using this ministerial regulation. Since 2022, dozens of digital platforms have been blocked under the guise of regulation. The regulation has become a tool for those in power to censor content without due process.

By blocking access to Wikipedia, the government appears to be seeking to control information. In epistemic authoritarianism, the systems for producing, validating, and disseminating knowledge are centrally controlled. The authorities have the right to determine what constitutes truth or knowledge.

This censorship is tarnishing the image of President Prabowo Subianto’s government. Amid a flood of criticism of government programs and presidential actions, the government appears to have become allergic to alternative information produced by the public.

This is even more ironic because this year Indonesia assumed the presidency of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. At home, however, we deny the right to obtain and disseminate information, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established by the United Nations.

This post is based on https://www.tempo.co/kolom/pemblokiran-wikipedia-pse-komdigi-2120556.