Indonesian Internet users have woken up today to face a terrible reality. Hundreds of sites and services, including such giants as Steam, PayPal and the Epic Games Store, have been blocked in the country.
Although there is a way to get around this restriction by changing the DNS or using a VPN, the ban came as a shock to many. For a country with more than 270 million people and a vast freelancing market, a ban could create a lot of problems.
The ban is related to the new regulation regarding providers of electronic systems. Under it, local and foreign companies providing services or doing business must register with the government. And most companies, of course, did not register with the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo).
On the site Kominfo you can find the entire list of companies and services that are temporarily unavailable or completely blocked. PayPal has registered, but did so at the last minute and has not yet received permission.
In total, 8721 sites and services are now blocked.