An Indonesian Tiktker was sentenced to almost three years in prison after “talking” to a photo of Jesus on his phone and telling him to have his hair cut.
Ratu Thalisa, a Muslim transgender woman with more than 442,000 followers of Tiktok, had been live and answered a comment that had told her to cut her hair to look more like a man.
On Monday, a Medan court, Sumatra recognized Thalisa guilty of having spread hatred under controversial law online and sentenced it to two years and 10 months in prison.
The court declared that his comments could disrupt “public order” and “religious harmony” in society and having accused him of committing blasphemy.
The court’s decision took place after several Christian groups filed the police against Ms. Thalisa for blasphemy.
The penalty was condemned by human rights groups, including Amnesty International, who described it as “a shocking attack on Ratu Thalisa’s freedom of expression” and called for it to be canceled.
“Indonesian authorities should not use the country’s electronic information and transactions law (EIT) to punish people for comments on social networks,” said Amnesty International Indonesia, USMAN Hamid, in a statement.
“While Indonesia should prohibit the advocacy of religious hatred which constitutes an incentive to discrimination, hostility or violence, the law on the discourse of Ratu Thalisa does not reach this threshold.”
Mr. Hamid called on the Indonesian authorities to reverse the conviction of Ms. Thalisa and to ensure her immediate release of the guard.
He also urged them to repeal or make substantial revisions to which he described as “problematic provisions” in the law of the DPE – namely these speeches of immorality, defamation and alleged hatred.
Introduced for the first time in 2008 and modified in 2016 to combat online defamation, the EIT law was designed to protect the rights of individuals in online spaces.
However, he was strongly criticized by rights for defense of rights, press groups and legal experts, who have long raised concerns concerning the potential threat of the law of freedom of expression.
At least 560 people were accused of alleged violations of the EIT law during the exercise of their freedom of expression between 2019 and 2024, and 421 were convicted, according to Amnesty International data.
People responsible for defamation offenses and hatred speeches have included several influencers on social networks.
In September 2023, a Muslim woman was sentenced to two years in prison to blaspheme Islam, after having published a viral tiktok video where she said an Islamic sentence before eating pork.
In 2024, another Tiktker was detained for blasphemy after having published a quiz asking the children what type of animals can read the Koran, according to Amnesty International.
Indonesia is home to many religious minorities, including Buddhists, Christians and Hindus. But a large majority of Indonesians are Muslims – and most of the cases of people found in violation of the EIT law have generally linked religious minorities which allegedly insulting Islam.
The case of Ms. Thalisa, where a Muslim woman is accused of invoking a speech of hatred against Christianity, is less common.
Prosecutors previously demanded to receive a sentence of more than four years and immediately called on the verdict on Monday. Ms. Thalisa had seven days to call.
