Singer Ussy Sulistiawaty, 37, reported 10 Instagram users to the police for their comments on her daughter, which she calls cyberbullying. 

One of the users apologized on Thursday, saying that she did not know that her joke was body shaming, which is a crime under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

“There are more than 10 accounts. The case is still being investigated. We reported them for defamation,” Sandy Arifin, Ussy’s attorney, said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Wednesday.

Some of the Instagram users commented negatively about Ussy’s eldest daughter, Amel, which all started when she uploaded a family photo. Ussy said her daughter refused to eat because she was called fat.

“Amel knows that she has been bullied, her friend told her,” Ussy said. “She doesn’t want to eat now because she wants to be skinny.”

The wife of TV presenter Andhika Pratama added that she felt hurt and angry over the netizen’s disparaging comments. 

Despite the apology, Ussy said she would not withdraw her report. “I’ve forgiven them, but I want these netizens to be taught a lesson.” 

Earlier in November, an infographic from legal consultation website hukumonline.com was circulated on social media explaining that body shaming can lead to criminal charges. The posting received a lot of comments and several netizens shared it as a warning to others. 

Hukumonline.com said Article 27 Clause 3 of the ITE Law stipulated that anyone who intentionally and without any right distributed and/or transmitted and/or made any electronic information or document containing insults and/or defamation could be charged with a crime, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. 

The infographic also included examples of body shaming: “Is your skin darker now?”, “His wife is very fat”, “Are you getting fatter? Your cheeks are chubby” or “Is that an eyebrow or a toll road?”. Hukumonline.com says such comments can be considered an insult as stipulated in Article 27 Clause 3 of the ITE Law. (spl/evi)