Indonesia blocks GIF feature on WhatsApp and reveals plans for content control

According to the Jakarta Post, the Indonesian Ministry has blocked access to the GIF feature of WhatsApp, which is no longer available for the users of several Indonesian mobile operators. The block follows allegations of pornographic content circulating through GIFs on social media and messaging applications, such as WhatsApp. Only GIFs provided by Tenor.com have been removed. Another GIF provider, Giphy.com, said it will filter images and make them unavailable in Indonesia. In related news, the Indonesian government announced the launch of an automated system to flag pornographic and extremist content in January 2018. When content is flagged on foreign websites, sites will be given a warning or will be blocked straightaway.