Jakarta, Indonesia – Instagram has removed an account that published comic strips depicting the struggles of gay Muslims in Indonesia following a frenzy of moral outrage online in the world’s biggest Muslim nation.
The Ministry of Communications said Wednesday the account under the username ‘Alpatuni’ was pornographic, which violated the law on information and electronic transactions. It was closed after the communications minister wrote a warning letter to Instagram, the ministry said.
The comics depicted gay characters facing discrimination and abuse, which has become increasingly common in Indonesia since late 2015 when conservative politicians and religious leaders began a campaign of portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a threat to the nation.
An account of the same name on Facebook, which owns Instagram, was also no longer accessible. The ministry said it appreciated that members of the community reported the account, which “accelerated” its removal.
Indonesian netizens in turn congratulated the ministry. On Twitter, Fahmi Alfansi Pane, a policy analyst at the Indonesian parliament, thanked officials for “acting decisively” to protect public morality but also told The Associated Press he had never seen the comics.
Local media, quoting the communications minister, reported the ministry would block Instagram in Indonesia if the Alpatuni account wasn’t removed.
Censorship and “torture”
The government frequently threatens to block Western social media and Internet companies for content deemed illegal, but has never taken such measures, possibly fearful of a public backlash due to the huge popularity of the services with Indonesians.
Indonesia has faced backlash from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, which have described the nation’s use of caning as a form of state punishment as a “form of torture.”
Canings, in front of large crowds, have been used in the country’s Aceh province, where strict Muslim law is enforced by regional Shariah courts, to punish people for “crimes” including homosexuality and prostitution.
Amid an outcry over the public floggings, the Aceh government decided last year to move them indoors, away from public eyes, but the practice has not been officially discontinued.
Historically, Aceh, located at the tip of the island of Sumatra, was the first region in the Indonesian archipelago to adopt Islam after contacts with Arab traders from as early as the 8th century. Its implementation of Shariah law was a concession made by the central government in 2001 as part of efforts to end a decades-long war for independence.
