Indonesia Restricts WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram Usage Following Deadly Riots

Indonesia is the latest nation to hit the hammer on social media after the government restricted the use of WhatsApp and Instagram following deadly riots yesterday. From a report: Numerous Indonesia-based users are today reporting difficulties sending multimedia messages via WhatsApp, which is one of the country's most popular chat apps, and posting content to Facebook, while the hashtag #instagramdown is trending among the country's Twitter users due to problems accessing the Facebook-owned photo app. Wiranto, a coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, confirmed in a press conference that the government is limiting access to social media and 'deactivating certain features' to maintain calm, according to a report from Coconuts. Rudiantara, the communications minister of Indonesia and a critic of Facebook, explained that users 'will experience lag on Whatsapp if you upload videos and photos.' Facebook -- which operates both WhatsApp and Instagram -- didn't explicitly confirm the blockages, but said it has been in communication with the Indonesian government.

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