Facebook faces Indonesia investigation over privacy breach

Facebook is facing possible criminal sanctions in Indonesia as police begin to investigate whether the social-media company breached privacy laws and allowed the data of Indonesian users to be improperly shared.

Indonesia’s communications minister Rudiantara has asked the chief of the National Police, Tito Karnavian, to investigate the matter after Facebook revealed on Thursday that the personal information of more than million Indonesian Facebook users could have been obtained by political consultant Cambridge Analytica. The minister has previously threatened to shut down Facebook over the matter.

Facebook employees in Indonesia could also face up to 12 years in jail and a fine of as much as 12 billion rupiah ($871,000) if found to have breached Indonesia’s privacy rules. “I am taking this seriously and have taken the necessary steps to coordinate with law enforcement, which in this case is the head of the National Police,” Rudiantara said during a telephone interview on Thursday night.

A country of 260 million people and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia is a prolific user of social media and boasts more than 115 million Facebook users. The government has been cracking down on the use of social media to publish fake news and hate speech.