JAKARTA: Search for "Bali" on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, and you get countless videos of foreign travellers lounging on its beaches, wandering through its rice terraces and sampling its famed cuisine.And while many of those videos may have helped raise the island’s profile, some of these content creators are facing closer scrutiny by the authorities as Bali cracks down on foreigners who are suspected of engaging in commercial activities under tourist visas. Indonesian authorities have established a special task force called Dharma Dewata to conduct patrols in areas with high concentrations of foreign nationals across Bali as part of efforts to tighten oversight into their activities. "The primary objective of this policy is to minimise the misuse of residence permits, such as using holiday or tourist visas for employment or commercial purposes," Felucia Sengky Ratna, the head of the Bali Regional Office of the Directorate General of Immigration, told CNA in a statement.
Experts whom CNA spoke to broadly supported the move for stricter enforcement of immigration rules, but some said that the government needs to provide clearer guidance on the line between conducting commercial activities and the sharing of travel experiences online.Content creators, meanwhile, are seeking greater clarity on the stricter measures even as they questioned the consistency of the policy’s implementation on the ground.
