REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister, Mohammad Nasir, has said the ministry will monitor students' social media to check radicalism on campuses. He wanted all universities record data of lecturers and students as well.
"We record their cellular phones, social media," Nasir said here on Monday.
According to Nasir, the move would not restrict academic activities nor was it ignoring students' privacy, but was aimed at preventing development of radicalism on campuses.
The ministry had taken some measures to prevent radicalism in higher education institutions. He said the enforcement of Normalisation of Campus Life/Coordinating Body for Student Affairs (NKK/BKK) had left a vacuum in students' activity.
As a result, he added, the vacuum was being used by radical groups.
"We made some activities such as state defence and nationality insight. After the banning of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia we worked on coordination with the National Agency for Combating Terrorism (BNPT)," he elaborated.
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Nasir admitted what happened in the Riau University could also occur in other universities in Indonesia. He called on rectors to watch closely all activities on their campuses.
On Saturday, three suspected terrorists --Z, B, and K -- were arrested in a student facility building, Gelanggang Mahasiswa, at Riau University's Social and Political Sciences Department in the provincial capital, Pekanbaru. The three were alumni of Tourism, Communication and State Administration Study from 2002 to 2005.
The police seized four high explosive hand-made bombs and some material to make a bomb in the building. Gelanggang Mahasiswa in universities are used as secretariats for various activities, including sports and student newspapers.
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