Songs by Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande have been banned from being aired during day time for being ‘pornographic’ in Indonesian province.
The West Java provincial broadcast commission identified 85 songs labelled ‘adult’ that can only be aired between 10pm and 3am. These include Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’, Bruno Mars’ ‘That’s What I Like’ and Ariana Grande’s ‘Love Me Harder’, which have been deemed to have too ‘vulgar’ and ‘negative’ lyrics.
The world’s biggest Muslim-majority country has seen a rise in restrictions on content or behaviour deemed pornographic, sometimes through local bylaws based on sharia in the officially secular country.
The action followed complaints from the public and there were similar objections over thousands of songs. The broadcast commission is also drawing up a list of Indonesian language songs considered ‘adult’.
West Java is home to 48 million people and is known for being among the most conservative provinces in Indonesia. t the national level, Indonesia already has strict anti-pornography laws that critics say can be misused to threaten tolerance or creative expression in the Southeast Asian country.