BALI, Indonesia — Police in Bali have arrested yet another pair of creators, charging them with “producing pornographic videos and selling them via social media and instant message services.”
The latest in a series of widely publicized arrests under Indonesia’s draconian anti-obscenity laws involves a married couple in their 30s from the locality of Gianyar, who were arrested July 22.
Bali Police spokesman Stefanus Satake Bayu told local reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the couple’s involvement in producing adult content “began as a fantasy.”
During the press conference, Bali police personnel held up printouts of screen captures of the couple's content, as the accused stood behind them wearing prison orange.
According to Bali authorities, the couple initially made videos to fulfill their personal sexual fantasies and did not charge money for them, but then “began posting their own porn vids on Twitter in 2019. The adult content became so popular that they decided to start three groups on Telegram, where they sold their homemade porn.”
Bayu said that the couple earned a profit of about IDR 50 million ($3,365) by producing 20 videos over three years.
The Bali police “cyber patrol” unit surveyed the couple’s activities. The content creators now face up to 12 years imprisonment if found guilty.
Bali Police Notorious for Arresting People Over 'Indecency'
As XBIZ reported, under Indonesia’s harsh 2008 obscenity law, "Law 44," Bali has become notorious for recurring arrests of influencers and other people making and sharing content online.
“The country’s ambiguous pornography laws have led to the jailing of people over adult content and leaked sex tapes, including celebrities," noted news site Coconuts Bali in June, when an Instagram influencer was detained for alleged “indecent” content. “Even so, some Indonesians still break the law, with a number of content makers active on adult platforms such as OnlyFans, which is popular among sex workers.”
Bali’s police commissioner told local press last year that authorities were in the process of posting signs warning tourists that pornography is a criminal offense in Indonesia.
Adult performers who shoot content away from their home regions should always be aware of laws regarding production and distribution of what could be considered “pornography” by local authorities.
Main Image: Bali police publicly shame the accused during press conference.