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Film censorship in the digital era: Does it still matter?
The East Java regional branch of the Film Censorship Institute (LSF) is heading the way of the dodo. With its ties to propaganda, whether under foreign or Indonesian regimes, and amid the digital proliferation of unadulterated, often unmoderated social media content, is the institution still relevant?
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A curling handwritten sign on the door to the East Java Film Censorship Institute (LSF) in Surabaya, which was renovated recently, says that it is closed for a lunch break. (JP/Ivan Darski)
I
t has been a quiet few weeks at the Education Quality Assurance Agency (LPMP) in Surabaya, where the office of the East Java Film Censorship Institute (LSF) is located. Most days, only a single office boy comes in to clean up the increasingly empty building that had some renovation done recently.
On the building’s fourth floor, a good number of walls are in pieces from the renovation, with the remnants left scattered on the floor. A single banner, barely hanging in place near an elevator, is the only indication that the East Java LSF occupies the floor. Not one employee is present, even during work hours.
Fathur Rohman is an institute member who wrote a petition asking not to shut down the East Java LSF. But during a phone interview, he was unwilling to provide any comments on the record about the petition, and instead referred to Imam Suhardjo, a fellow LSF member on the institute’s evaluation team.
At 72, Imam Suhardjo is an institutional veteran who has been the chief of the censorship, data and dialog division of the LSF’s Jakarta head office.
He said that the provincial institute’s planned closure was spearheaded by the education ministry, as it was “ineffective” and “inefficient” in terms of cost function.
“There’s still a lot to reconsider, because the evaluation team has told the minister’s office that the East Java Film Censorship Institute still needs to exist, to facilitate public needs regarding censorship in the region. I’m concerned that when we close this establishment, there'll be unnecessary uproar from the public,” said Imam, the only member of the seven-strong East Java LSF that was willing to talk to The Jakarta Post.
Imam added that other regions like Makassar and Bali could only request the establishment of their local LSF.
