KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. The Communications and Information Ministry has banned cigarette advertisements on the internet following a request from the Health Ministry.

In a letter dated June 11, Health Minister Nila Farida Moeloek wrote to Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara requesting the ban, citing research that showed some teenage smokers took up the habit after seeing online cigarette ads.

"Soon after receiving the letter, minister Rudiantara immediately ordered the Information Applications Directorate General to conduct crawling measures on cigarette advertising content on the internet," Communications and Information Ministry spokesman Ferdinandus Setu said in a statement on Thursday.

He said the ministry's team found 114 links on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube that violated a 2009 Health Law banning "cigarette promotions that display the form of a cigarette".

"The ministry's team is currently in the process of taking down the accounts, the content on the aforementioned platforms," he said.

Ferdinandus added that Rudiantara had also called Nila to schedule a technical coordination meeting as soon as possible to discuss potential violations of other health regulations.

"This is because, as the regulator, the Health Ministry is better able to correctly interpret legislation [and] regulation," he said.

Editor: Herlina Kartika Dewi