House passes controversial anti-porn bill

Ati Nurbaiti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 10/30/2008 2:14 PM  |  Headlines

Cries of joy and shouts of Alhamdullillah (praise God) came from the balcony of the House of Representatives' plenary hall as the gavel was struck to mark the passage of the controversial bill on pornography.

Compared to those who supported the bill, those who opposed it only occupied two rows on the balcony towards the end of the meeting.

Pro anti-porn law activist Lasmiantini of Salima (Muslim sisterhood) said, "Insyaallah" (God willing), Indonesians will eventually undergo a moral revival -- the basis of a country, and
later economic revival."

"We are very happy with the result of our struggle to protect children, and also to protect women," said Lasmiantini, of several groups who supported the pornography bill.

"If our husbands are (exposed to) pornography then our families will be destroyed."

"Now our children are safe," said Lasmiantini, chairwoman of Salima's Bekasi chapter.

With exposure to pornography contributing to instances of rape and murder, the country was no longer safe for women and children, she said.

Lasmiantini said, under the new law, sinetron (popular television serials) would have to be those "of quality" and contribute moral value, such as the recent hit 'Laskar Pelangi' (Rainbow Troops) -- referring to the movie based on Andrea Hirata's biography of his childhood.

In response to questions of whether she feared any excessive implementation of the new law, while justifying state interference in private matters, she said, "for good things, like an injection, people are negative about it only because they fear it will hurt."

The activists cited revisions to the bill which they said would guarantee that only pornography in the public sphere was regulated.

Meanwhile, Save Indonesian Children (ASA Indonesia) chairwoman Wuryaningsih and a Salima leader both said, "We should work together to watch out for any excesses."

"The law may not be perfect but it is a start ... We must protect our families," she said.

"We really hope that the (pornography) industry can be regulated."

In response to fears among women that they would become unwitting victims of the law, Wuryaningsih said the issue of women was only "political," as if Islamic parties were not behind the law.

"This has nothing to do with the Islamic parties," Wuryaningsih said.

 

Comments (76)  |   Post comment
A  |   A  |   A  |   Mail to a friend  |  Printer Friendly Version |  Digg it!  |  Add to Del.icio.us!  |  Add to Reddit!  |  Stumble it!   |  Share on facebook  

Andrew2410 — Wed, 11/05/2008 - 6:03pm

For the sake of clarity, we should see the law makers walk through the ladies wear section of Matahari accompanied by a TVRI news team and indicate which items of clothing are considered pornographic, and which ones are safe. What a joke this is.
Andrew

Andrew2410 — Wed, 11/05/2008 - 6:05pm

Very well said Mark. Amen. Andrew

Andersen — Fri, 10/31/2008 - 2:52pm

So much for peoples freedom and efforts to unite the country. I hope indonesians have not forgotten which parties and politicians supported this bill next year.

Wdm — Fri, 10/31/2008 - 8:16am

too labour intensive miles, besides think about the graft and scrutiny.

a better opportunity? forget people smuggling, dope, real estate and other scams....

buy the back catalogue of playboy!! think how much a copy of the last indonesian edition is now worth!

Wdm — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 9:20pm

this is stupid legislation.

* rape, adultery, pre marital sex, sex with cows...will not be affected.

* the availability of pornographic material (print, video, internet etc) will rise, as will the explicit and degenerative nature. it's illegal, the price and profitibility goes up, more entrepeneurs will come on board. corruption will increase.

* in the case of rape, guilty men could avoid conviction because of the way the victim was dressed or behaved. a real man can control and take responsibility for his actions.

* it's discriminatory and against pancasila. i'm sure there's an avocat out there waiting/preparing for a constitutional challenge.this would mean that any subsequent charges are held in abeyance

* the definitions are so vague that a conviction would seem almost impossible. again i'm sure there's a legal eagle waiting to defend and take it all the way through the court system. likewise on subsequent charges.

for the record, i'm male, not a porn user/viewer. i regard sex as a participant, not spectator sport. i have friends who spice their lives with porn. none of them are rapists, adulterers or sexual deviants.

for the record, i'm a cynic. there's an election shortly. members can go home on the moral high ground having supported the bill. doesn't matter if it's challenged or overturned.

the old political maxim....

be seen to be doing something rather than doing something.

Sonnyj98 — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 9:01pm

The bill they pass today is like opening a parcel and you don't know who sent it or what inside of it untill you open it but you be thinking what can happen if you do..

This new law will most likely to abuse by some factions will start taking control etc and i can see that will be many problems with in the future like i can see that many woman will be divorce and increase of violents againgst them as this new could protect the men..

Many think i'm narrow minded about this but i'm worry what will hold for Indonesia in the near future as many tourist won't go there and this would discourage companies to invest there.

By the way i am white muslim and have an Indonesian muslim wife and ilove indonesia very much but this has gone too far with this new law.
I hope and pray who ever get elected next year throw this law out as this will hurt this country....

12345678next ›last »

What's On

more
more
more