Indonesia: TikToker gets prison sentence for joking about Jesus's hair
What's the story
An Indonesian TikToker named Ratu Thalisa has received a sentence of two years and 10 months in prison for her controversial remark on Jesus. Thalisa, a transgender Muslim woman, was on a livestream when a viewer suggested that she should cut her hair to look like a man. Thalisa then "talked" to an image of Jesus on her phone and advised him, "You should not look like a woman. You should cut your hair so you'll look like his father."
Blasphemy charges
Court found Thalisa guilty of spreading hatred
Thalisa, who has over 442,000 TikTok followers, was found convicted of spreading hatred under a controversial online hate-speech law by a court in Medan, Sumatra. The court argued that her comments could disrupt "public order" and "religious harmony" in society and charged her with committing blasphemy, reported BBC. The decision came after numerous Christian groups filed police complaints against Thalisa for blasphemy.
Rights groups' response
Human rights groups condemned the sentence
The sentence has invited condemnation from human rights groups, including Amnesty International. Calling it "a shocking attack on Ratu Thalisa's freedom of expression," they urged the sentence to be quashed. Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director, said, "Indonesian authorities should not use the country's Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) law to punish people for comments made on social media."
Law revision
Calls for revision of Electronic Information and Transactions law
Further, Hamid urged Indonesian authorities to overturn Thalisa's conviction and ensure her immediate release. He also called for significant revisions to what he sees as "problematic provisions" in the Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) Law, which criminalizes alleged immorality, defamation, and inciting hatred. First introduced in 2008 and amended in 2016 to tackle online defamation, the EIT Law has been heavily criticized by rights groups, press groups, and legal experts for threatening freedom of expression.
Religious freedom
Thalisa's case highlights religious freedom issues in Indonesia
Thalisa's case is one of the rare ones where a Muslim woman has been charged with invoking hate speech against Christianity. Between 2019 and 2024, at least 560 people were charged under the EIT Law for expressing their views, with 421 convictions, per Amnesty International. Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, is also home to Buddhists, Christians, and Hindus. Most EIT Law violations involve religious minorities accused of insulting Islam.