Steam will reportedly return after Indonesia's ban, Valve set to register under new rules

It was recently announced that online services like Steam, PayPal, Epic Games Store and more have been banned in Indonesia. The action was taken due to the services failing to register with Kominfo, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the country.

Kominfo has now come clean about this sudden rule, highlighting that it was "forced" to take action due to non-compliance.

The company has also apologized to the public and aims to make amends. For starters, PayPal will go back online for five days to allow users to manage their financial transactions. Valve, on the other hand, has applied for registration, so Steam users can rest easy.

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Steam and other services banned in Indonesia due to security concerns

According to the new rules, companies termed Penyelenggara Sistem Elektronik (PSE), or Private Electronic System Providers, must apply for registration under Kominfo. Those that failed to register by July 27, 2022, were promptly blocked across the nation.

Kominfo officially recognizes these four goals as the motivation behind this ban:

• Establishing a system of all PSEs operating in Indonesia
• Maintaining Indonesia’s digital space
• Protecting public access on digital platforms
• Creating a fair system between domestic and foreign PSEs, including tax collection purposes

This measure seems to have been taken to minimize online risks and strengthen internet security for Indonesian users by ensuring these companies are legitimate and recognized by the government.

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What does this decision mean for affected services?

The decision to outright block access to Steam and more of these platforms on such short notice caused an outcry from the Indonesian community.

The ban has prevented access to many crucial services that hold monetary value. These include online inventories, purchases, and more - especially on Steam with player trading cards, skins, and various other items. From streaming (across popular platforms like Twitch) to even basic communication is affected.

Other gaming services, including EA Origin, Nintendo's eShop, and Battle.net, have also been blocked. With recent findings, it appears the matter has started to de-escalate.

Valve's registration means Steam should go back to normal functionality soon. PayPal is a more worrying matter due to the short five-day window, but things will probably work out. Other companies will also have to comply with Indonesian IT authorities to ensure their services go back online as soon as possible.

Since social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter remained unaffected, it seems they might have already registered with Kominfo.