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ixty percent of cyber crime cases in Bali this year involved teenagers, the police have said.

Most of the 30 reported cases this year include misuse of social networking accounts, harassment and defamation, the Transnational Crime Coordination Team and the Bali Police said.

M. Afa, an assistant investigator on the team, said during a recent discussion that most cases involved a single youth who was unaware that they were breaking the law.

They had no knowledge that they could be charged with defamation for publishing comments on certain issues on their social networking accounts, he said.

“Internet users in Indonesia can be charged with various laws,” Afa said, citing the Law on Information and Electronic Transaction, the Anti-Pornography Law and the Criminal Code.

In many cases, he added, the perpetrators and victims usually knew each other, typically as friends or partners.

Twenty percent of the cases involved text messages, and 20 percent involved banking fraud.

Ibnu Rachal Farhansyah entered into the public spotlight last March for religious profanity.

Ibnu, a non-Hindu youth who has been living in Bali for two months posted on his Facebook page a provocative statement about the Hindu holy day of silence, or Nyepi.

He left the island after his account was flooded with angry comments and threats.

“I arrested  Ibnu in Jakarta and I accompanied him for nine days in Bali for security reasons. This case has been closed already, as it might have stirred up greater negative reaction if taken to court,” Afa said.

Afa said Ibnu’s case was an example of how one inflammatory remark posted on the Internet could create widespread social unrest.

“Ibnu is just an ordinary teenager. He didn’t have any intention of committing blasphemy. The words were merely a spontaneous utterance because he was upset by a personal problem,” Afa, an investigator in the case, said.

“I warn users of social networking sites to not write comments onethnic groups, religion, race or [messages] of hatred to anyone,” Afa added.

Sandy Kusuma, an information technology expert, said the cases should serve as lessons for youths, especially those unaware they could face criminal charges for what they wrote on the Internet.

The Information and Electronic Transaction law carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison and Rp 1 billion in fines for defamation.

“Protect your personal identity on the Internet. Don’t tell people too much about your personal
problems,” Afa told dozens of students attending the discussion on healthy Internet practices on
Saturday.

The students said the misuse of social networking sites, as well as easy access to pornographic sites, were worsened by weak law enforcement.

“Internet cafes attract teenagers by displaying pornographic videos on computer monitors. So how do the cafes’ operators and the police handle this?” Putu Dwipayana, a student of state vocational school SMKN 1 Denpasar, said.

Anom Prasetya, a software officer at the Denpasar Communication and Information Agency, said the government’s attempt to block access to pornographic websites would fail to protect teenagers from falling victim to the sex industry.

“Pornographic content is mushrooming. Should the Pornography Law really take effect, everybody could be charged. It’s complicated.”