Indonesian information minister Harmoko said his country was ready to deal with the free flow of information through the Internet, the official Antara news agency reported: increasing Internet access has opened a new, uncensored avenue for the flow of information between activists, politicians, students and environmentalists. Activists say it is a powerful tool for distributing information in a society where self-censorship abounds, newspapers are tightly controlled and unlicensed magazines are banned. Harmoko said Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministers would set up a regulatory body by year-end to come up with appropriate responses to the Internet. The ministers expressed concern that smut and information accessible on the Web could cause racial and religious tension.
