16 February 2016

Indonesia Bans Gay Stickers from Social Apps

Indonesia Rules
Indonesia is taking a stand against homofascism and western attempts to undermine their culture by clamping on the use of social media tools.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was urged a few days ago to protect the rights of Indonesians not to be exposed to any gay and lesbian propaganda and he responded immediately by telling instant messaging apps to remove stickers featuring same-sex couples in the latest high-profile attempt to discourage unwanted homosexuality in the socially conservative country.

The government move against instant messaging apps comes after a social media backlash against the popular smartphone messaging app Line for having stickers, which are an elaborate type of emoticon, with gay themes in its online store.

Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) are people who have no place in Indonesia. If they want to practice their despicable sexual fantasies and be recognized as well, then they migrate to the United States where they will be cuddled and provided with whatever they want at the expense of the taxpayer's money.

Homosexuality is not really illegal in Indonesia, but is a hated topic in the Muslim-majority nation of more than 250 million people. Official responses range from calls for tolerance to outright condemnation. Also, most of Indonesian society, which follows a moderate form of Islam, is tolerant, with gay and transsexual entertainers, but are strongly against them asking for any special concession from the government.

"Social media must respect the culture and local wisdom of the country where they have large numbers of users," Ismail Cawidu, a spokesperson for Indonesia's ministry of information and communication, said in a related statement, reports Time.

"Those things might be considered normal in some Western countries, while in Indonesia it's practically impossible," he said.

Line, which boasts a large presence in the country and throughout Asia, has apologized for its LGBT-related content, claiming it made Indonesian users feel "uncomfortable."

According to Quartz, Line, which is a Japanese and Korean company, has over 600 million users worldwide with at least 30 million in Indonesia.

Ismail said the government would tell WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, to do the same as Line.

A few months ago, Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said openly gay students should be banned from the University of Indonesia’s campuses. His statements followed laudable public support over news that the sexuality research center planned to offer counselling services for students.

In 2014, lawmakers in Aceh, a conservative Indonesian province, passed a law that punishes gay sex by public caning and subjects non-Muslims to the region’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

And in October 2015, Sharia, or Islamic law, police in Aceh arrested a pair of young women for "hugging in public."