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Indonesian TikToker Sentenced for Blasphemy Over Remarks to Jesus
An Indonesian TikTok influencer, Ratu Thalisa, has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison after making comments during a live stream that included ‘talking’ to a picture of Jesus and suggesting he needed a haircut. Thalisa, a Muslim transgender woman with over 442,000 followers on TikTok, responded to a viewer’s suggestion to cut her hair to appear more masculine during the broadcast.
A court in Medan, Sumatra, found her guilty of violating an online hate-speech law, specifically for spreading content deemed offensive, which could allegedly disrupt “public order” and harm “religious harmony.” The ruling, delivered on Monday, resulted in a sentence of two years and ten months of imprisonment.
The conviction followed multiple complaints from Christian organizations, which accused Thalisa of blasphemy. Her case has stirred significant backlash from human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, which criticized the sentence as an infringement on her freedom of expression. They urged immediate action to overturn the verdict.
Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, commented on the case. He emphasized that while the promotion of religious hatred that incites discrimination or violence should be curtailed, Thalisa’s remarks did not cross that line. Hamid called for her conviction to be overturned and for her to be released from prison.
Additionally, he highlighted the need for revisions to the Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) Law, which has been used to penalize individuals for allegedly immoral or defamatory speech online. This law, enacted in 2008 and revised in 2016 to address issues of online defamation, has faced extensive criticism from various organizations concerned about its implications for freedom of expression.
Statistics from Amnesty International indicate that between 2019 and 2024, over 560 individuals were charged under the EIT Law for expressing their views, with 421 receiving convictions. Social media figures have frequently found themselves at risk of prosecution under this legislation.
The legal environment has continued to evolve, with recent cases showing a trend of stringent action taken against expressions deemed blasphemous or offensive. For instance, in September 2023, a Muslim woman received a two-year prison sentence for blaspheming Islam via a viral TikTok video. Another incident involved a TikToker who was detained in 2024 for posting a quiz regarding animals reading the Quran.
Indonesia is characterized by its religious diversity, housing many communities including Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists. However, the predominant Muslim population often sees cases involving accusations of disrespect towards Islam. In this context, Thalisa’s case stands out as one involving a Muslim woman charged under blasphemy allegations related to Christianity.
Following the ruling, prosecutors sought a harsher sentence of over four years. Thalisa has been granted a seven-day window to file an appeal against the verdict.
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