Indonesia's explosion of exposure

By Kafil Yamin
July 29, 1999

Jakarta - When Indonesians glance at their newsstands, they are most likely to see two kinds of image on the front pages of newspapers - politicians or half-naked women.

Indeed, politics and sex are fast becoming the staples of the press in the "reformasi" era which has seen restrictions on the media lifted since the resignation of Suharto in May 1998.

While the press revels in its new freedom, this same liberty, along with legal loopholes, has also allowed the proliferation of tabloids bent on boosting sales through sex and scandal. This freedom now threatens to elicit a backlash from activists and religious groups up in arms over what they call a rash of nothing short of "pornographic" material in the print media.

Part of this trend can be attributed to the explosion in the number of publications since May 1998. From that time until July 5, the information ministry has issued 1,138 new press licenses, 641 of them for tabloids. This contrasts starkly with media proliferation under Suharto - during his regime, the country had only 284 press publications.

The Suharto government used to deny or revoke licenses. But while many publications today attack the government with no holds barred, no licenses have yet been revoked or editors reprimanded or sued.

Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah says this policy will remain and that it is up to readers to penalize erring publications. "We will leave it to readers. We have smart readers. If a publication is not credible, readers will leave it. And if it carries lies or insulting reports, the community members concerned will sue them," he told the press recently.

But for many groups in this majority Muslim country, media freedoms should not include the use of sex to sell products. "Pornography in any form is an evil," said a statement by the Indonesian Ulema Council lambasting the offending tabloids. "And those who participate in the making, distributing and publishing of it are devils, according to religious teaching."

A group of Muslims recently held a rally in Jakarta demanding that the National Commission on Human Rights look into cases of sexual exploitation of women through media. "Hi women, cover yourselves!" read one of their banners. "Keep your honor," admonished another.

Some journalists say the use of scantily-clad men and women, often soap opera actresses or models, appears to be responding to readers' desire to have something other than political fare in the media. "People are bored with endless debate on political issues: who is going to become president, what will happen to the military's dual function. People want something entertaining," said Heru B. Iskandar, editor of the Obyektif tabloid.

But critics say there is nothing that is entertainment or art in these pictures. Women activists find them downright offensive. "They [the tabloid covers] always promote inviting poses of female artists. They show sensitive parts of a woman's body. Is that entertainment? If it is, then it is nothing but destructive entertainment," said Emy Hafidz, an activist.

Due partly to public outrage, at least five editors of controversial tabloids have been questioned by the police. A number of publications are also under investigation and their editors will be summoned in due course, police say.

The editors have been charged under Article 282 of the Criminal Code pertaining to indecency. If found guilty under this outdated code, they face maximum penalty of 18 months' imprisonment and a fine of up to 3,000 rupiah - or less than 40 cents.

The code was inherited from Dutch law and was amended in 1963 to revise portions on corruption, but has never been thoroughly reviewed or updated.

Women models who posed for the magazines under investigation have also been summoned. One model, actress and singer Sophia Latjuba, was questioned for more than five hours about a picture published in Popular magazine.

Despite pressure from the religious community and women activists, Yunus said the government would not revoke outright the licenses of magazines and tabloids. "It falls under the jurisdiction of the police to prosecute publications that violate the law on indecency," he explained.

After police questioning, Nano Riantarno, playwright and editor of Matra magazine, denied that it was promoting pornography. Matra publishes photos of female models "to unveil beauty through visualization as a way of expressing our gratitude for the creation of beauty," he asserted. "We explore beauty. We don't exploit it."

"Give me a clear idea of what pornography is," said Mujimanto, editor of Popular magazine. "If pornography shows the sexual organs of men or women, we don't do that. But if people's sexual desire is stimulated by our artistic pictures, then the problem is in their minds."

Like many, Koesnan Sukandar, editor of 'Liberty', equates pornography in the media with nude photos. ''In Indonesia, it is impossible for the official media to publish nude pictures, so it is impossible to promote pornography," he pointed out.

Activists take umbrage with this definition of pornography. To confuse matters further, legal aid activist Irwan Nasution points out that "indecency," which is mentioned in the current press law, is different from pornography in media.

The unclear definition of pornography does lead to legal loopholes, said participants at a workshop last week organized by the Association of Indonesian Journalists in Cianjur.

This issue has been a source of controversy since the 1950s and was never properly settled. "This is a very subjective issue," said Professor Budiyatma, a communications expert at the University of Indonesia.

Given the absence of clear standards, Budiyatma argued that it is not necessary to issue a ban on pornography in the media, saying, "what is necessary is to manage them in a proper way and put it into order, like distributing [such publications] to a limited readership."

But legislator Marwah Daud Ibrahim disagreed: "Our press law is based on our social and cultural values, which are against pornography. Let's make it simple." She railed against the media, insisting: "Those who defend pornography in the media are those who get advantage from the exploitation of women's bodies."

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