Based on Public Complaints

Dear Abbot,

Monk here.

Midweek. Five governments, each cutting a new window into the wall.

KUALA LUMPUR. In Kuala Lumpur, the communications minister, Fahmi Fadzil, says the regulator has asked for 47,412 cyberbullying posts to be taken down since January, 81 per cent of them on TikTok, all identified “based on public complaints.” Next it is examining WhatsApp and Telegram, whose encryption lets private groups operate outside public view. “The review of private communication platforms is ongoing, and no measures have been implemented at this stage.”

Every one of the 47,412 was found by somebody else first. The next place to look is the one where nobody else can.

JAKARTA. In Jakarta, the digital minister, Meutya Hafid, called at national police headquarters on Tuesday and listed the threats online, from data trafficking to hoaxes. The police chief, General Suyudi Ario Seto, promised quick action on online fraud, gambling and romance scams. “We must act quickly against crimes that cause public concern.”

The quieter offences will have to learn to cause concern.

RIGA. In Riga, the Saeima has launched a new website. The old one “was created more than 15 years ago and its functionality was limited.” A new Participation Space explains how the public can follow the legislative process. The release adds that the site “may initially contain functionality errors that have not yet been noticed,” and invites everyone to report them.

Public participation begins, as so much in a parliament does, with a call for amendments.

The boy went to look.

“I found a button that does nothing.”

“Report it.”

“Is that participating?”

“By Saeima standards, you have tabled a motion.”

HANOI. In Hanoi, the National Assembly will “devote its entire November 12 session” to questioning the finance and science ministers, live on television and radio. Deputies want the causes of slow public investment disbursement, and who is responsible. The science minister will answer for delays in allocating resources under Politburo Resolution 57, of December 2024.

Disbursement is behind schedule. Accountability has a broadcast slot.

LOS ANGELES. In Los Angeles, at the first Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers, hosted by the US government, the Pacific Islands Forum’s Secretary General, Baron Divavesi Waqa, said online scams and cybercrime “have become established security threats across the Pacific,” “compounded by the region’s vast ocean, dispersed populations, limited resources and growing digital connectivity.”

To discuss how the ocean keeps them apart, the ministers crossed it.

The Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu end on a kindness. Hundun, emperor of the centre, had none of the seven openings for seeing, hearing, eating and breathing. Two friends he had entertained well decided to repay him, and bored one opening a day. On the seventh day Hundun died. This week the drills were out. Kuala Lumpur would like an opening into the encrypted group. Riga has opened a window and asked visitors to find what is broken. Hanoi will give its ministers a day of open ears on live television. Jakarta has tuned its hearing to public concern. Everybody meant well. So did the friends.

Nobody has asked the centre what it wanted to see.

Complaints: 47,412, all filed. Errors: not yet noticed. Ocean: still vast.

Yours, with only the openings I arrived with,

The Monk