Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs


The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs is an Indonesian government ministry that is responsible for digital communications, information affairs and internet censorship. The ministry reports to the president and is currently led by Meutya Hafid, the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs.
The current form of the ministry was established in 2001 by President Megawati Sukarnoputri after its predecessor, the Department of Information, was abolished by President Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999. Deppen itself was created on 19 August 1945, during the National Revolution.

Organization

By Presidential Decree No. 174/2024 and as expanded by Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development Decree No. 1/2025, the Ministry is organized as follows:
  • Office of the Minister
  • Office of the First Deputy Minister
  • Office of the Second Deputy Minister
  • Board of Experts
  • * Senior Expert to the Minister on Law
  • * Senior Expert to the Minister on Social Affairs, Economics, and Culture
  • * Senior Expert to the Minister on Communications and Mass Media
  • * Senior Expert to the Minister on Technological Affairs
  • General Secretariat
  • * Office of the General Secretary
  • * Bureau of Planning
  • * Bureau of Human Resources and Organization
  • * Bureau of Finance and State Properties
  • * Bureau of Legal Affairs
  • * Bureau of General Affairs
  • * Bureau of Public Communication
  • * Centers
  • ** Center of Data and Information Infrastructures
  • ** Center of International Relations
  • ** Center of Strategic Policies
  • ** Secretariat of Indonesian Central Broadcasting Commission
  • ** Secretariat of Press Council
  • ** Secretariat of Indonesian Central Information Commission
  • Directorate General of Digital Infrastructures
  • * DG I Secretariat
  • * Directorate of Strategies and Policies for Digital Infrastructure
  • * Management Directorate of Spectra, Radio Frequencies, Satellites Orbit, and Digital Infrastructure Standards
  • * Directorate of Digital Infrastructure Services
  • * Directorate of Digital Infrastructure Acceleration
  • * Directorate of Digital Infrastructure Control
  • * Indonesian Center for Telecommunication Devices Testing
  • * Class I Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Institutes
  • * Class II Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Institutes
  • * Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Stations
  • * Agency for Telecommunication and Information Accessibility
  • ** Directorate of Resources and Administration
  • ** Directorate of Finance
  • ** Directorate of IT Services for Enterprises
  • ** Directorate of IT Services for Public and Government
  • ** Directorate of Infrastructure
  • ** Internal Investigation Unit
  • Directorate General of Digital Governance Technology
  • * DG II Secretariat
  • * Directorate of Strategies and Policies for Digital Governance Technology
  • * Directorate of Digital Governance Infrastructure
  • * Directorate of Digital Governance Applications
  • * Directorate of Regional Digital Governance Technology Acceleration
  • Directorate General of Digital Ecosystems
  • * DG III Secretariat
  • * Directorate of Digital Ecosystem Development
  • * Directorate of Artificial Intelligence and Novel Technologies Ecosystem
  • * Directorate of Postal Services and Broadcasting
  • * Directorate of Digital Ecosystem Services
  • * Directorate of Digital Ecosystem Control
  • Directorate General of Digital Space Supervision
  • * DG IV Secretariat
  • * Directorate of Strategies and Policies for Digital Space Supervision
  • * Directorate of Certification and Electronic Transactions Supervision
  • * Directorate of Digital Investigation
  • * Directorate of Digital Space Control
  • Directorate General of Public Communications and Media Affairs
  • * DG V Secretariat
  • * Directorate of Public Information
  • * Directorate of Public Communication
  • * Directorate of Interinstitutional Communication Partnerships and Public Relations
  • * Directorate of Media Ecosystem
  • Inspectorate General
  • * Inspectorate General Secretariat
  • * Inspectorate I
  • * Inspectorate II
  • * Inspectorate III
  • * Inspectorate IV
  • Agency for Human Resource Development of Communication and Digital Affairs
  • * Agency for Human Resource Development of Communication and Information Technology Secretariat
  • * Center of Ecosystem and Human Resources Development for Communication and Digital Affairs
  • * Center of Talent Development
  • * Center of Digital Literation Development
  • * Center of Apparatuses Development for Center for Talent Development
  • * "MMTC" Multimedia College
  • * Indonesian Center for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Medan
  • * Indonesian Center for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Makassar
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Jakarta
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Bandung
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Yogyakarta
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Manado
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Banjarmasin
  • * Indonesian Institute for Human Resource Development and Research in Communication and Informatics, Surabaya
  • * Indonesian ICT Training Center, Cikarang

    Criticism

The ministry is often criticized for its censorship, as it blocks websites "to protect its citizen from hoax". In 2020, the Director General Ministry Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan and Johnny G. Plate introduced a law that requires foreign companies to register under the Electronic System Operator list which could give the government access to the citizen's personal info and threaten the company to block access from the country if the company did not register. The law was revised and passed in 2021. In July 2022, a ban was implemented for several notable websites such as PayPal, Epic Games, Steam, Origin, and Yahoo, and games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 as they did not register under the ministry's new law. Access to PayPal, Steam, CSGO, Dota 2, and Yahoo would later be allowed for once more by 2 August 2022.