War on pornography<\/p>\n
If Thursday's ruling against Matra men's magazine was supposed
\nto have showcased the government's clampdown against pornography,
\nthe police and the judiciary could not have made a worst choice.
\nPicking on the monthly magazine for printing pictures of young
\nmodels which the judge considered semipornographic -- when dozens
\nof other magazines got away with printing far more blatant and
\noffensive pictures -- has sent the wrong signal about the
\nauthorities' sense of priority. Picking on Matra's editor
\nRobertus Riantiarno, who was given a five-month suspended
\nsentence by the court, gave the dangerous impression that the
\nauthorities still feel animosity toward the man who has had
\nseveral brushes with the law in the past for defending free
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
As much as the public sympathizes with the difficulties the
\ngovernment faces in curbing the spread of pornographic material,
\npicking on Matra was a grave error. The real culprits in the big
\npornographic business are still loose out there, spreading filth
\nand raking in profit with impunity. By convicting Riantiarno, the
\nauthorities may have turned the heat on genuine campaigners of
\nfree speech.<\/p>\n
In the last two years, Indonesia has seen a mushrooming of new
\npublications which take advantage of the advent of a free press
\nera. Inevitably, some of these have turned to pornographic or
\nsemipornographic material. They are stretching the limits and
\ntesting society's level of tolerance. Matra's case came to the
\nforefront when several religious organizations decided enough was
\nenough last year and took to the streets to demand the government
\nclamp down on magazines considered to have violated society's
\nnorms and sense of moral decency.<\/p>\n
Even in this era of a free press, the Criminal Code still bans
\nthe dissemination of pornographic material. The police,
\nprosecutors and the courts still have to interpret and enforce
\nthe code. But rather than taking the initiative, the authorities
\nseem to have acted only when under pressure. And it is Matra they
\npicked on when they could have chosen dozens of other
\npublications which have blatantly violated society's sense of
\npropriety.<\/p>\n
Any government war on pornography should not be limited to the
\nprint media when there are other medium through which pornography
\nhas made inroads. The police have yet to come to grips with the
\nopen sale of pornographic VCDs in many parts of Jakarta and other
\nmajor cities. The authorities have not even began to look for
\nways of stopping the dissemination of pornographic materials
\nthrough the Internet, a problem that even the most developed
\ncountries like the United States are still grappling with.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, as in other countries which uphold free speech,
\nthe pornographic business is riding on the back of the free press
\nand those who trade in it would not hesitate to invoke the right
\nto freedom of expression in protecting their money-spinning
\nbusinesses. Many protesters against pornography have also often
\nblamed the unlimited freedom that the press enjoy for this
\ncondition.<\/p>\n
For better or worse, the government must continue with its
\ncampaign to fight pornography on all fronts. But any campaign
\nagainst pornography must not infringe on people's right to
\nfreedom of expression. There in all probability lies the
\nchallenge for the authorities. Judging by the way the Matra case
\nwas handled, they have not done a good job of it so far.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/war-on-pornography-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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