Bali to Stop Mobile Internet on Saturday

Bali blocks smartphone access to internet to mark Day of Silence .

Denpasar, MINA – Due to the Balinese New Year’s Day celebration “Nyep”, mobile network operators on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali have agreed to switch off the entire mobile internet in Bali on Saturday, Deutsche Welle reported.

Nyepi is a high holiday in Hinduism on Bali and is also called “Day of Silence”: Faithful Hindus do not leave their homes, fast, keep silent and do not use light. Public life on the island is coming to a standstill. Tourists are also expected to observe the curfew.

The Internet shutdown was initiated by the Indonesian Hindu Society PHDI. She had already applied last year to turn off the Internet to Nyepi – also to prevent tourists from making selfies on the holy day, as local media reported.

Now, according to I Nyoman Sujaya, head of Bali’s Information Office, the authorities agreed for the first time. Most Indonesians are Muslims, but Bali is largely Hindu.

Bali will not be completely offline on this day.

In some hotels, WLAN hotspots will continue to work. Even in the public sector, hospitals, security authorities and the financial system, the Internet is not disconnected. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)