By Erika Icon

YNOT EUROPE – Indonesia began celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with internet censorship. The month began July 19 and will end during the evening of Aug. 18.

To get the festivities going, the Communications and Information Ministry blocked one million pornographic sites ahead of the observance. And that’s just the beginning. Officials already have shut down access to portals based outside the country, and they estimate blocking another million websites during the holy month itself. All blocked websites may be off-limits to Indonesians indefinitely.

Minster Tifatul Sembiring explained to the media that possession and creation of pornography is against the law in Indonesia, so the ministry does not allow citizens to access adult websites at any time of year. He also said producers of adult content are wasting their time attempting to avoid Indonesia’s censors, who are diligent in ferreting out offensive materials.

The country is notorious for cracking down on offensive online content, specifically porn and material considered slanderous to or critical of Islam. The government has the authority to shut down anything it deems inappropriate, and officials frequently monitor the activity at internet service providers and internet cafes. The widespread censorship program started in 2007, initially blocking only a few websites for brief periods. In 2008, Indonesia made global headlines by asking ISPs to block YouTube after Google declined the Indonesian government’s request to remove Fitna. The Dutch film by Geert Wilders allegedly mocks the Prophet Muhammed.

In 2010, a Facebook page, Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, arose in response to censorship of the television show South Park, some episodes of which some Muslims considered offensive. The Indonesian government demanded Facebook close the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day page, and when Facebook declined, Indonesian censors required ISPs to limit access to the online social network.

In 2011, Research in Motion, makers of BlackBerry mobile devices, agreed to filter pornographic and other offensive-to-Islam content on the portion of its smartphone network operating in Indonesia and the Middle East.