Indonesia's communications minister says local broadcasters will soon be banned from airing live news provided by foreign broadcasters, such as the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Communications and information minister Sofyan Djalil said Monday the ban will take effect February 5 when new media regulations are implemented.
Under the regulations, foreign news and music broadcasts must be edited locally. Indonesian officials say that will ensure that the content meets community standards.
It remains unclear what the standards will be, but last week, Sofyan told a VOA correspondent the rules may be ambiguous.
The new regulations were approved in November, but after an outcry by media companies and lawmakers, the government and parliament postponed implementing them.
Discussions continue in parliament, but it is unclear how long the talks will go on, or what effect they may have on the media regulations.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
