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Indonesia tells YouTube to remove clip deemed harmful to children
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An Internet user watches footage on YouTube of a little girl singing a song that criticizes a father who cheated his wife. (JP/Dandy Koswaraputra)
T
he Communications and Information Ministry has called on YouTube to remove a clip called "Lelaki Kardus" (Cardboard Man) due to "harmful" content, on the request of the Child Protection Agency (LPA).
The video features a song sung by a little girl about her father who has married another woman and become a two-timer, and the girl's friends insulting the man with foul language.
The ministry's spokesman Ismail Cawidu said the officials had contacted Lelaki Kardus' songwriter Achmad, who had agreed to remove his video from YouTube.
"However, many people have copied the video and re-posted it on YouTube. The ministry will now send a letter to YouTube to ask that the video be removed," Ismail said as quoted by Antara news agency on Thursday.
Meanwhile, LPA chairman Seto Mulyadi and secretary-general Samsul Ridwan criticized the people who produced and helped distributed the video, saying that the content degraded human dignity and was damaging for children.
Having children perform adult content is similar, the LPA says, to abusing them, especially if the video is intended for commercial purposes, since it is arguably child exploitation.
The LPA also urged people not to disseminate the video any more and not to post negative comments about children if they happened to stumble upon the video in the internet. (afr/dan)
