Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno recently addressed the plan to ban the award-winning, multi-platform game Fortnite. This move is taken due to issues that in the game, players must destroy a building that allegedly looks like Kabaa, the most sacred site for Muslims, to retrieve a weapon and level up. He said that there will be instructions to review the game and process the ban.

Sandiaga claimed that it is something that goes against the Indonesian noble values, especially in terms of religion. Therefore, the ministry will follow the most recent fatwa (a non-binding legal opinion from an Islamic law perspective given by recognized authority) issued by Al-Azhar University, Egypt. The fatwa warned Muslims of several electronic games that captured the “minds of young people” and highlighted Fortnite. The fatwa centres on "the embodiment of the demolition or tampering of the Holy Kaaba, which directly affects our children's beliefs, confuses their norms and identity, and underestimates their sanctities."

Fortnite has posted clarification via its Facebook Page, stating that the content in discussion was “an island made by a player in creative mode.” Creative mode is a built-in mode where any player could design the world within the game, and even the experience using the player’s own ideas, in their own island. The players can also upload their creations to be accessed by other players. Therefore, Fortnite added that “you can’t destroy the Holy Kaaba” in the game.

This is not the first time the Indonesian government seeks to ban a game on the grounds of blasphemous imagery. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in 2017 banned the game Fight of Gods, which resulted in the removal of the game from online game store Steam. In addition, the ministry in June stated that it is reviewing Mukomuko regent's request to ban several online games.