A social media influencer was jailed for almost three years for joking Jesus should get a haircut.
The TikToker was found guilty of violating Indonesian blasphemy laws by spreading hate speech against Christianity, as well as disrupting “public order” and “religious harmony”.
Ratu Thalisa, a transgender Muslim woman with nearly 450,000 followers on TikTok, was sentenced to two years and ten months by a court in North Sumatra province.
The decision was condemned by human rights groups including Amnesty International as a “shocking attack on freedom of expression.”
“While Indonesia should prohibit the advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, Ratu Thalisa’s speech act does not reach that threshold,” Amnesty International Indonesia’s executive director Usman Hamid said.
Thalisa was charged under Indonesia’s controversial Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) law.
The legislation was introduced in 2008 and amended in 2016 to address online defamation. However, many are accusing Indonesian authorities of using the law to restrict freedom of expression.
In September 2023, a Muslim woman received two years in prison for uttering a Muslim expression before eating pork. One year later, another TikToker was arrested and accused of blasphemy after posting a quiz asking children what kind of animals can read the Quran.
Source: https://www.themirror.com/news/world-news/tiktoker-jailed-nearly-three-years-1071209
