The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) is slapping television station GTV with a warning for broadcasting “violent acts” in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

In a warning letter dated Sept. 15, the comission stipulated that the animated movie — aired on GTV on Aug. 6 and 22 — contained violent acts, such as someone getting hit in the face with a board, someone having a bowling ball dropped on his head, a hammer being thrown at a face and a potted cactus being launched into the air with the help of a racket.

The KPI deemed the movie as potentially violating Article 14 of the KPI’s code of conduct, which states that a broadcaster must adhere to the interests of children in every aspect of production.

The letter also included Article 37 of the commission’s program standards, which states that a program classified as “R” is forbidden to show content that might encourage children and teenagers to learn inappropriate behavior.

A wildly popular American animated television series, SpongeBob SquarePants chronicles the adventures of the title character and his friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom.

First airing in 1999 on Nickelodeon, the American animated series made its silver screen debut in 2004 with The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.

Created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the series has received many awards, including Emmys for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program in 2010 and Outstanding Children’s Animated Series in 2018.

GTV has not responded to The Jakarta Post’s inquiries on the matter. However, in an apparent response to the the KPI’s warning letter, the television station tweeted a GIF image of a crying SpongeBob on Sept. 13 through its Twitter account @OfficialGTVID. The tweet attracted dozens of comments in support of GTV and SpongeBob.

“This yellow [character] has been my friend since I was in elementary school! Up until now I am in college, I am always fond of Spongebob. And now it [the movie] is being banned?” wrote a netizen under Twitter handle
@adeqnyabunda.

Psychologist Gema Laras told the Post that she considers some of the content in SpongeBob Squarepants to be inappropriate for young children, as they might not understand what is being shown on screen.

“Children can watch it with parental guidance, on the condition that they are above 8 years old and have shown understanding of the content. Generally, those under that age will find it hard to understand the context of the violence and will only absorb the visuals,” Gema, a mother of two, said.

In the past, the comission has also issued warnings about animated series Shaun The Sheep in 2017 and children’s movie Barbie: A Fairy Secret in 2015 for showing kissing scenes.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is one of 14 programs deemed inapproriate by the KPI. Among the programs are Trans 7's reality show Rumah Uya (House of Uya), Metro TV’s Headline News and talkshow Rumpi NoSecret (Gossiping, No Secret).

The KPI also reprimanded TV One for airing the promo for Joko Anwar’s superhero movie Gundala on July 30 as it contained an apparently profane word: bangsat (scoundrel).

On Monday, Joko lashed out at the KPI in a Twitter thread with the hashtag #BubarkanKPI (AbolishKPI), which has since been retweeted by nearly 6,000 people.

In it, Joko uploaded a screenshot of the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language (KBBI) definition of bangsat, which denotes someone who is of a poor upbringing or a petty thief.

“If there is a institution that considers shows like SpongeBob to be against norms of politeness, that institution does not deserve to be trusted to judge anything in life,” Joko wrote on his account @jokoanwar.

Some netizens have also lambasted the KPI’s decision and supported Joko’s sentiments, such as @Dsrrdz, who jokingly wondered whether Indonesians in the year 2030 would have to watch SpongeBob on a porn site using a virtual private network (VPN).

This is not the first time the KPI issued a controversial decision. In December last year, the comission warned 11 television stations for broadcasting a “salacious” Shopee commercial starring K-pop girlband Blackpink.

In February, the West Java branch of the KPI limited airtime for 17 songs — including Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor” and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” — for their sexual content.

Last month, the KPI was lambasted by the public after announcing its plan to formulate rules that would serve as a legal umbrella for monitoring content on digital media outlets, such as YouTube and Netflix.

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