A video is being shared on social media claiming that the Indonesian government had recently issued guidelines to shut down internet services before and after 30 minutes of Azaan across the nation. According to the post, the Indonesian government had done a survey and found that more than 40 per cent of people in the nation were not attending daily prayers in Mosques. This post claims that the Indonesian government had issued this guideline to bring back people to Mosques for prayers. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Indonesian government ordered a shutdown of internet services before and after 30 minutes of Azaan.
Fact: The Indonesian government did not issue any such guidelines ordering the shutdown of internet services before and after the 30 minutes of Azaan. Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs in February 2022, issued a circular regulating the use of loudspeakers in Mosques and other prayer halls. The Indonesian government shut down internet services multiple times in the past to curb misinformation during the protests in the country, but they did not issue any such orders of internet shutdown for Azaan. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the Indonesian government had issued any such guidelines to curb internet services before and after 30 minutes of Azaan, we could not find any such announcement on the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs website. The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs did not announce such guidelines on its official Twitter, Facebook and Instagram handles. If the World’s largest Muslim-populated country Indonesia had issued such guidelines, it would have been widely reported. But we could not find a single news report about such guidelines.
Multiple times in the past, the Indonesian government had shut down internet services to prevent violence during protests. News reports related to the past internet shutdowns in Indonesia can be seen here and here.
In February 2022, Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a circular regulating the use of loudspeakers in Mosques and prayer halls. The Minister for Religious Affairs said that the guidelines were issued to increase peace, order and harmony among citizens. Neither in these guidelines circular nor in any of the other circulars, the Indonesian government issued orders to curb internet services before Azaan.
To sum it up, the Indonesian government did not issue any orders to shut down internet services before and after Azaan.
