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ndonesian netizens went into a frenzy last month when a picture of House of Representatives Speaker and Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto in intensive care at a private hospital in Jakarta circulated online, drawing ridicule from critics who accused him of posing for the shot.

The politician, who was then accused of evading Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioning, has not taken the online mockery lightly and is determined to press defamation charges on the owners of 69 Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

“We reported them for defamation as stipulated under the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions [ITE] Law,” Setya’s lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The police were quick to follow up on the report by arresting on Wednesday evening a woman suspected of distributing a meme deemed to have defamed the high-profile politician.

Head of the Jakarta Police’s cybercrime division, Sr. Comr. Asep Safrudin, said the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Dyann Kemala Arrizqi, was only joking when she uploaded the meme on social media.

That, however, did not stop the police from charging Dyann, who is a member of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). The party’s secretary-general, Raja Juli Antoni, told the Post she was in shock and shutting herself away.

The police’s move has drawn criticism from civil rights activists, who accuse the force of recklessly handling the reports, saying they should have conducted mediation before leveling charges.

“Prosecuting someone for alleged defamation should be a last resort,” said Damar Juniarto, the regional coordinator for the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet).

However, the ITE Law, seen by many draconian, has granted any citizen the right to press criminal charges on those they believe have defamed them.

Setya opted not to undergo mediation with the netizens he reported.

“We will move forward with the report as we have handed it over to the police’s investigators,” Setya said on Friday after testifying against graft defendant Andi Agustinus, aka Andi Narogong, at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

Since the House passed the law in 2008, activists have been concerned that draconian articles in the law could threaten freedom of expression, as the articles could easily be used to criminalize anyone for expressing their opinions.

An amendment to the law was made in 2016 to allay concerns that the law was a threat to the country’s democracy and freedom of speech. Among points revised was the maximum sentence for individuals convicted of defamation, which was reduced from six to four years’ imprisonment.

With the revision, the police could no longer detain those charged with defamation under the ITE Law.

Activists, however, have argued that the defamation articles in the law could still be used to curtail freedom of speech. In the past few years, more people have fallen victim to the law.

As of October this year, 201 cases of online defamation have been reported since the House passed the law in 2008, according to SAFEnet data.

The data also showed that the number of cases had increased under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration, with 48 cases in 2015 to 54 cases in 2016. For comparison, only 32 cases of online defamation were recorded under president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration from 2008 to 2013.

The latest example of defamation prosecution using the law took place in September, when an organization linked to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) reported journalist Dandhy Dwi Laksono to the East Java Police for publishing a Facebook post comparing PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri and Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.