F

or Setya, dodging graft charges is not enough. Instead, it is those who insult him that — according to him — should be put in jail.

In an era where almost everyone has access to the internet and social media, public figures — including high-profile politicians at the center of scandals — are easy targets for meme makers; jokes about them are clickbait.

House of Representatives speaker and Golkar Party chairman, Setya Novanto, is no exception. In November 2015, amid a scandal in which the politician reportedly sought a backroom deal with a PT Freeport Indonesia executive, memes mocking Setya with the hashtag #PapaMintaSaham (daddy wants company shares) were all over the internet.

At that time, Setya did not report any of the meme makers.

He recently became the target of online satire once again after a photograph of him lying on a hospital bed went viral.

On Sept. 29, a controversial court ruling had annulled the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) decision to name him a suspect in the high-profile e-ID case, and the image quickly became the basis of memes to mock the infamous politician.

But this time, Setya is not staying silent. He reported Instagram account @dazzlingdyannon on Oct. 10 for posting a cartoon allegedly defaming him.

The image depicts Setya, with a breathing tube in his mouth, dancing while throwing cash around. The caption reads: “Yay. Because Papa is not a suspect anymore, Papa wants to share some money. Come here.”

On Nov. 1, the police tracked down the owner of the account, Dyann Kemala Arrizqi, 29, and arrested her. As of Sunday evening, the post was still available.

It has been viewed 18,197 times and continues to draw comments expressing support for Dyann.

Instagram user @okan_bisri11 wrote: “We support you... The people are always blamed.”

Sr. Comr. Irwan Anwar, head of the National Police’s Cyber Crimes Directorate, said Dyann was named a suspect after police confirmed the cartoon was “defamatory,” which they concluded with the help of IT, linguistic and law experts.

“[National Police chief] Gen. Tito Karnavian, [Gerindra Party patron] Prabowo Subianto, [former president] Megawati [Soekarnoputri] and even President [“Jokowi” Widodo] Jokowi are often the target of online insults and hate speech, in both text and pictures,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. “But they have not filed a police report. In cases like this, the police can only launch an investigation upon receiving a report from the victim.”

Irwan claimed police frequently used the “soft” approach by telling uploaders of potentially defamatory content that their actions were against the law.

Setya’s lawyer, Frederich Yunadi, said Dyann is among 68 netizens currently under police investigation for allegedly posting defamatory material on Setya.

“What they [upload] is not a form of criticism, but pure insult and defamation,” Frederich said, “If we want to have a mature society, we need to respect our leaders. If you don’t like them, then don’t vote them in the next election,” he told the Post.

Memes or social media posts have become an expression of society’s disappointment in the state’s failure to provide justice, particularly in corruption cases, said LBH Pers executive director Nawawi Bahrudin.

“The police’s move will only invoke fear among the people to express their opinion, which is protected by the constitution,” he said.