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Popular YouTuber takes down LGBT content after outcry
Podcast lead to Indonesian netizens aiming disapproving and hostile comments toward the LGBT community.
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Activists from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities stage a rally calling for greater protection of their rights in Jakarta.
(Courtesy of Tribunnews/Irwan Rismawan)
D
eddy Corbuzier, one of Indonesia’s top YouTubers, found himself in digital hot water following an interview discussing the homosexual lifestyle last week and decided to take down the video.
Indonesian netizens were prompt in their reactions to the video, flooding timelines with strong-worded disapproval of not just Dedy, but the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community at large.
The May 7 video podcast, titled “A tutorial on being gay in Indonesia”, garnered more than 6 million views. In the video, Ragil Mahardika and his German husband, Frederik Vollert, talked about their life in Germany and the nature of homosexuality.
Following a charged polemic that quickly made its way to social media, at least 200,000 people have unsubscribed from Deddy’s YouTube channel.
After taking down the podcast episode on Tuesday, in a public apology, Deddy said he understood that homosexuality was an unjustifiable “deviation”.
Some social media users also called the authorities to prosecute Deddy for distributing ‘pornographic’ and zina (adulterous) content.
Gerinda Party politician Habiburokhman was among those who floated a suggestion for the country to come up with a new rule to police online broadcasts considered as “going against Pancasila and religious values”.
