Critics fear the bill could be misused against minority communities and scare away tourists [Reuters]

The law has been almost a decade in the making, and has been watered-down on several occasions amid rows over the definition of pornography.

Two opposition parties - the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the Christian Prosperous and Peace Party - walked out on Thursday when parliament passed the bill.
  
Some members of parliament clapped and shouted "Allahu Akbar", or God is great, following the knock of the hammer to signal the bill had been passed.

About 200 Muslim women in headscarves rallied in front of the parliament building in support of the bill.

On Wednesday hundreds of supporters of the new law marched through the capital, Jakarta, urging politicians to enact the bill.
 
They have been angered by what they say are increasingly racy television ads and films, as well as the growing availability of magazines such as Playboy.

"I don't want my children to go to hell because we allow pornography," one demonstrator named Siti told The Associated Press.
 
"Sexually explicit movies, TV ads … it's bad for my family, my sons and daughter."

'Moral police'

But critics of the bill say the anti-pornography legislation could be misused against Indonesia's minority Christian and Hindu communities and threatens the country's pluralistic culture.
 
Officially, art and culture are exempt from the bill, but people in Papua, Bali and other Indonesian islands with large non-Muslim populations worry that the new law is too vague and could be misused.
 
They also fear it could scare away tourists.
 
In several recent instances civilian groups like the Islamic Defenders Front have used used violence against those they say offend Islam.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: