As I’ve been saying for years, “hate speech” laws are tools of the powerful to silence the powerless.
“An influencer in Indonesia could go to jail for trying pork on TikTok,” by Aishah Llewellyn, Rest of World, May 19, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
In a TikTok clip posted on March 9, Indonesian influencer Lina Luftiawati, who uses the stage name Lina Mukherjee, sits in front of a plate of rice, vegetables, and a slab of crispy pork skin. As a Muslim, Mukherjee’s religion forbids the consumption of pig meat. “Bismillah, I think I will be taken off my family [register] because I’m curious about pork skin,” she says to the camera, giggling, before she tucks in.
One week, 13 million views, and scores of angry comments later, the country’s top Muslim clerical body issued a fatwa — a ruling on Islamic law — against Mukherjee. In its fatwa, the Indonesian Ulema Council said it considered the clip blasphemous. On March 15, a Muslim cleric in South Sumatra filed a police report in Palembang, a city with strong representation from the religious right.
Last week, on May 5, the influencer was officially named a suspect in a blasphemy case. She now faces up to five years’ jail under Indonesia’s blasphemy and hate speech laws….
For her part, Mukherjee apologized for the video and promised to be more mindful of her social media content in the future. “I apologize to the people of Indonesia, because as a public figure I made a mistake. In the future, I will use my social media better [for more] useful [content],” she told local media in early May. Despite religious factions in Palembang lobbying for her to be held in detention, she remains at home while police investigate the case.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Well, trying out pork on TikTok in Indonesia is the equivalent of trying out meth on TikTok out here in the US. At least in Red America
Lina should have just said that her stage name “Mukherjee” is not a muslim name, therefore she’s not muslim, and therefore, she should be free to have pork. At the next possible opportunity, she should flee to Singapore, claim there that she’s being religiously persecuted & wants to become either Christian/Buddhist/Hindu (the name is a Hindu name)
tim gallagher says
Yes, Infidel, her behaviour seems incredibly naive, doesn’t it? It amazes me in Muslim Indonesia. And now maybe 5 years in jail. There are a couple of Australians who have been jailed in china by the thuggish scum who run that regime there and one who gets mentioned a bit is a woman journalist, Cheng Lei, who has been jailed for 1000 days so far as a spy. It is appalling, but I often think, when I see her mentioned, (I get that there would be important stories she might get in China) why would she go to China where unjust and arbitrary arrest would be likely to happen. Again, it seemed naive to go there and face life under that regime. It is a tragic situation, but I’d stay away from Muslim countries and China and its evil regime.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, I’d think that since the Bali bombings in 2002, Australians would steer clear of Indonesia, and Malaysia as well. Maybe try out Singapore, North Philippines (definitely not Mindanao) or any of those myriad islands out there in Melanesia/Polynesia/Micronesia
Oh, and definitely not China: try out Taiwan instead, or even Vietnam, which doesn’t spy on people the way Beijing does. I get why a Mandarin journalist might wanna go to China and talk directly w/ its citizens, but it is a foolhardy exercise. Better idea to go to Taiwan & find out from there talking to expats
Incidentally, is Hong Kong still bleeding its population to places like Australia, Singapore & so on, or has that been stopped?
tim gallagher says
I would avoid Muslim countries and I would never go near China on principle, Infidel. I don’t think Australians have changed their tourist destinations much and bali still seems to be a popular destination. I could also understand how that journalist went to China, although, to me, the risk of totally arbitrary arrest on bullshit charges in that country seems like a very good reason not to go near the place. She has children who she wouldn’t have seen for years now. It is atragic situation. On Hong Kong, and probably I would think that taiwan, since it now seems to be under great threat from China, I’m sure large numbers of people would be trying to escape to Australia or Canada or the UK or the USA. At least, China is being seen clearly as the massive bullying threat by all countries out in this part of the world and that is progress.
Keith O says
Her only “crime” is that of being an “influencer”.
That could be considered a crime against humanity and common sense.
tim gallagher says
Being an “influencer” is a weird new kind of job isn’t it, Keith O? As an old man, I have nothing to do with any of these people, but it is a strange thing for a person to be, that’s for sure.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
It’s a fictional job, where people delude themselves into thinking that there are plenty of other people stupid enough to emulate or worship (‘ship in today’s bizarro vocabulary) them. Although some of them happen to be right. It’s all over the place in TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
Given the blowback this girl got, she certainly doesn’t seem to be an influencer, since there ain’t a whole bunch of muslims out there trying out a roast pork, or even a salami
Joe1 says
When you were young, the most want job among the youth, was “rock star”. At this time, the most wanted job that kids want, is “social media influencer”. Rock star was a limited future because it was only an expression, but social median influencer promises to be the future of marketing and opinion because it is groups of relationships.
For the last 10 years, social media influencers have dominated marketing. For example, Pewdeipie has been more potent than Taylor Swift. The top ten marketing pulls have favored influencers since 2010. At the present, only 2 musicians make the top 10. The other 8 are influencers.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Rock star at least required some musical talent – something that would turn people on or fire them up to become one’s groupies. Social Influencer, by contrast, is something anyone can do
As Rush Limbaugh once said, “I have a simple definition of ‘Art’: if I can do it, it ain’t art”. (Context was the Andre Serrano and Robert Maplethorpe ‘art’ pieces of a crucifix in a jar of urine, or an elephant dung exhibit)
tim gallagher says
Being 73 years old, I don’t actually know the names of any of these “influencers”. I will have to google “Pewdeipie” Joe1. It seems like a strange way to make a living but, for an old guy like me, there is a lot that is strange about this world and I suppose it has always been that way when you are old. Infidel, Limbaugh’s definition of art is interesting. I used to try to understand modern art, read a bit about it, didn’t mind some of it, but some of it does definitely seem like a load of crap with no worth whatsoever.
Goofy says
The Indonesian clerics should be very careful:
Their beloved prophet seems to have broken all the laws of Islam including dietary laws which are fitted with escape clauses after all.
By prosecuting a Muslim for something which Muhammed himself did you are in fact blaspheming the messenger of Allah himself! This is probably worse than Shirk!
This is another example of incompetence in the clergy of Islam.