The popularity of DeepSeek, an AI-based chatbot application from China, has faced various rejections from several countries.
The United States, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan, South Korea, and India have decided to block DeepSeek due to concerns over the security of data collected by the application.
Iradat Wirid, a researcher on digital society issues and Deputy Secretary of the Center for Digital Society (CfDS) at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Fisipol UGM), stated that blocking was a reasonable and common form of protection, as each country has its digital sovereignty that must be upheld.
“Some countries that rejected it have not yet imposed public-level blocks, limiting the block to government institutions. This is a protective step to signal that DeepSeek needs to be seriously monitored, as it is deemed non-transparent regarding data usage,” he explained on Thursday (Feb. 13) at the UGM campus.
Wirid further explained that DeepSeek generally provides an alternative for society, developers, or professionals capable of optimizing this tool, reducing reliance on ChatGPT or other existing tools.
Until now, no serious issues have been reported regarding DeepSeek in Indonesia.
However, as a regulator, the government must be strict and adhere to several laws, such as the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Law, and the Presidential Regulation on Cybersecurity.
This is crucial if any DeepSeek privacy policies are considered harmful to the state, particularly regarding potential leaks of confidential state data, or detrimental to society, such as leaks of personal data.
He mentioned that the government should assess every application or technology entering the country to ensure compliance with existing legal regulations.
“Don’t just react to follow other countries’ decisions or social media trends. Our legal system already has indicators to determine whether something needs to be banned, restricted, or allowed,” he said.
According to Wirid, Indonesia’s root issue in regulating platforms like DeepSeek is the lack of digital literacy skills.
The public’s ability to understand the potential risks concerning digital security is still very weak. People often overlook many things when there is the lure of ‘free’ offerings, especially in apps or technology.
“The main thing to examine further is the consequences of these free services. Is there problematic data collection? Is there potential for future crimes? Society needs to be more aware of these matters,” he emphasized.
Wirid stressed that if the public is cautious of ‘new things,’ it will be better in the long run because individuals will have personal protection capabilities in the digital world.
As long as DeepSeek is still accessible, the government does not consider the app a regulatory violator. However, the public is advised to read more news about DeepSeek.
“If you’re unsure, it’s best not to use it,” he suggested.
He then offered some advice for using DeepSeek or other emerging applications in the current digital era.
Creating a new email for logging into applications with questionable privacy policies is the first preventive action the public can take.
Additionally, Wirid advised against publicly sharing personal data on frequently used applications, especially social media, as these are vulnerable to misuse.
With the rise of digitalization and the shift toward a technology-based economy, one intriguing issue is Indonesia’s potential to develop innovations that could rival or even solve problems with information-search platforms like DeepSeek.
Wirid is optimistic that this potential always exists. However, he emphasized that general digital literacy must be strengthened while also educating digital talent to enhance the digital ecosystem, which the government facilitates.
Building a strong digital ecosystem is crucial to foster sustainable and solution-oriented innovation.
“It’s not just about extracting funds from investors and then stifling the innovation itself. If this happens, investment support from investors will disappear because they fear losing trust in Indonesia’s digital ecosystem,” he concluded.
Author: Triya Andriyani
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya
Photo: Freepik