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Indonesia asks messaging apps to remove same-sex emojis in LGBT backlash
Sydney Morning Herald - February 13, 2016
Emojis are a small icon or sticker used online and in text messages to express emotions. They have become so popular, phone manufacturers have added dedicated emoji keyboards to their devices. In 2014 Apple added 50 gender-diverse emojis to its collection.
But now the popular app LINE, which had 30 million users in Indonesia as of late 2014, pulled its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender stickers from its online store in Indonesia on Thursday. Communications and Information Ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu said LINE had responded swiftly to the furore over its "somewhat vulgar" stickers.
"The ministry is appreciative of LINE Indonesia for its understanding and discretion in dealing with matters that could potentially cause public unrest, especially the concerns of mothers for their children in terms of the negative influence the circulation of these LGBT stickers could cause," he was quoted saying in news wire detik.com.
The LINE sticker sets, which can be used as well as text in messages, had titles such as "love is love" and "enjoy gay life" and featured images such as same-sex couples hugging and a man in his underwear frolicking in flowers.
LINE Indonesia said it had shut-down access to the stickers in Indonesia because they were considered "sensitive". "We always try to be neutral and non-discriminatory while considering the sensitivity of the local culture," LINE Indonesia's head of public relations, Teddy Arifianto?, told Fairfax Media.
Mr Ismail said the ministry would contact popular messaging app Whatsapp – which is owned by Facebook – and ask the company to also remove its LGBT themed stickers.
Homosexuality has never been outlawed in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country that practises a moderate form of Islam. (The exception is the province of Aceh, where Sharia law is implemented and gay sex can be punished with 100 strokes of the cane.) Transvestites, known as waria, have been a feature of Indonesian public life for hundreds of years.
However a furore last month over a brochure distributed by a support group for gay students at the University of Indonesia has sparked a backlash against the queer community. Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said publicly affectionate gay students should be banned from university campuses.
Indonesia's top Muslim clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), is reportedly preparing a fatwa, or religious edict, that will recommend the prosecution of Muslims who join in LGBT activities.
"What I see is that the attack against the LGBT group is getting bigger recently," said Yasmin Purba, a rights activist from the Indonesian Legal Foundation. "They are bullied in social media and attacked in real life. Indonesian people love gay or transgender characters in show business, we even have a minister people believe to be gay. Why are people attacking LGBT right now?"
Ms Purba said she recently attended a workshop on LGBT at Cemara hotel in Jakarta which was closed down by police following a tip-off from the hardline group the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).
"The police told us they were protecting us and so we had to leave," she said. "Some of us had already even booked rooms in that hotel. They said we could not stay there or if we wanted to, we had to get permission from the police. That's insane."
Human Rights Watch recently wrote to Indonesian President Joko Widodo? urging him to defend the rights of LGBT people and publicly condemn officials "grossly discriminatory" remarks. Asked about the issue on Friday, Luhut Panjaitan?, one of Mr Joko's most senior ministers, said all Indonesian citizens were entitled to be protected.
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