Tara Basro (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Actress and model Tara Basro has made waves in social media after starting a digital campaign aimed at endorsing body-positive values, prompting support and condemnation, including a Communications and Information Ministry official who accused her of violating the Pornography Law.

Tara — who is best known for her roles in films directed by Joko Anwar, such as Pengabdi Setan (Satan’s Slaves) and Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (Impetigore) — posted two black-and-white photos of herself posing in her undergarments on her official Instagram page @tarabasro, proudly showing off her physique as she attempts to subvert the common perception of what passes as the ideal female body.

“What I’ve always heard from people is how ugly they think their bodies look. I eventually became used to criticizing and making fun [of my body]. If only we choose to grow accustomed to seeing the good in ourselves, to be grateful for what we have and make the best out of it instead of focusing on what we don’t have,” she wrote in the caption.

Amid the gloomy mood that seems to have pervaded public discourse in recent weeks due to coronavirus concerns, scores of social media users in Indonesia shifted their collective attention to Tara’s latest headline-grabbing posts and sent the actress an outpouring of support for her body-positive message.

Twitter user @pamuladwi conveyed her support for Tara’s campaign, saying it encouraged her to confront her own insecurities regarding her appearance.

“I’ve been very insecure about how my body looks lately. I haven’t been confident about my belly, large thighs and calves. But then I saw this post; I should have loved my own body,” she said in reply to Tara’s tweet, which attaches a screenshot of her original Instagram post.

Another user, @euodiamichele, expressed her gratitude for the movement for giving her the courage to share her experiences of her newfound love for her body. 

“It took me 24 years to finally be comfortable enough to wear a bikini out in public. Despite all the things people said, I feel good in it, so I’m not sorry because I know I’m worthy of love. Thank you @tarabasro, because of you I’ve gained the courage to post this on social media,” Euodia said in her Instagram story.

Despite the overwhelming support, however, the Communications and Information Ministry caught wind of the pictures, specifically a black-and-white photo in which the actress was seen covering her seemingly naked breasts with her hands along with the caption “Worthy of Love”. Tara deleted this particular picture the same day.

“We received a report this morning. Having seen [the photo] myself, the content indeed counts as nudity,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Ferdinandus Setu, said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. 

He went on to say that Tara’s photo had violated Article 27 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on appropriate content.

The ministry’s comment has since evinced a strong reaction from activists and members of the public, many of whom criticized the ministry for undermining Tara’s body-positive message by mistaking her campaign for pornography.

Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) researcher Maidina Rahmawati said the ministry’s attitude toward Tara’s post would only serve to “cause social stigma and create a climate of fear”.

“The ministry has yet to fully understand the legal boundaries of what passes as appropriate; it does not support the positive message conveyed by the actress. Instead, it creates a climate of fear that discourages free speech,” Maidina said in a statement issued on Thursday.

She went on to call for a thorough reevaluation of Article 27 of the ITE Law, saying that it had often been misused to perpetuate gender-based crimes.

On Thursday, the minister himself, Johnny G. Plate, disputed his subordinate’s statement.

“Who says it violates the ITE Law? It doesn’t. One should look at it carefully and evaluate it to see if it’s a form of art or not. If that’s the case, then nothing is wrong with it, since it’s art,” Johnny said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

The minister said he had seen the picture and did not see how it could be considered a violation of the ITE Law. 

Johnny said he believed Ferdinand only said the picture could potentially have violated the ITE Law. 

“There is a difference. If the spokesman said Tara violated the law, that’s his fault. But he didn’t say that,” Johnny said.

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