Stop showing ‘Peter Porn’, broadcast watchdog says

(News Today) - Media authorities called on broadcasters on Wednesday to stop showing images of high profile sex tapes, saying they must protect young viewers and the privacy of those involved.

“We have issued a warning to all television stations broadcasting the pornographic clips either as news or infotainment,” Nina Mutmainnah Armando, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) said.

She was referring to the widespread steamy videos allegedly featuring Peterpan lead singer Nazriel Ilham or Ariel with two women, believed to be celebrities Luna Maya and Cut Tari. All three have denied they are featured in the videos.

The commission issued the warning Tuesday, saying the broadcasting of pornographic clips had violated the 2002 Broadcasting Law and the 2009 KPI Law on Behavioral Guidelines and Broadcasting Program Standards.

“We issued the warning to broadcasters because we had received complaints from the public,” she said, referring to the huge number of calls and text messages lodged with the commission.

Nina also said that the broadcasting of the pornographic clips had violated several provisions of the laws.

“The law states that a television station cannot broadcast pornographic clips,” she said.

“[Stations] have an obligation to protect teenagers and children by not broadcasting those kinds of clips” she added.

Television stations that had already broadcast the pornographic clips also violated the right to privacy of the people in the footage and ran counter to stipulations on underage viewers, she said.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said the police would summon Ariel, Cut Tari, and Luna for questioning.

“We need to question them to get information about who may be responsible for distributing the images,” he said.

The maker and the distributor could be charged under the 2008 Pornography Law and the 2008 Internet Law, both carrying the maximum punishment of 12 years in prison.

The Press Council also weighed into the scandal, saying that broadcasting the clips had violated the Journalism Code of Ethics.

“One section of the Journalism Code of Ethics states that media cannot broadcast pornographic clips,” Agus Sudibyo of the Press Council said.

“Bedroom scenes are considered pornographic, so the media cannot broadcast such content,” he added.
The sex tape that allegedly features Ariel and Luna Maya was leaked to the public last week.

The controversy was intensified when another sex tape featuring a woman who appeared to be Cut Tari and Ariel was made public a few days later.

According to the latest reports, PT Unilever Indonesia has ended its contract with Luna, who was the face of its Lux beauty soap advertising campaign, and has replaced her with a foreign model.

“PT Unilever has gradually pulled down its billboards featuring Luna and Ariel in big cities across Indonesia,” Maria Dewantini Dwianto, the head of Unilever public relations, said as quoted by Antara.

She said that one reason behind Luna being replaced as the face of Lux, besides the recent scandal, was that her contract had expired.

Many protests were raised among the public, including Makassar Mayor Ilham Arief Sirajuddin, who said he would issue a boycott on any performance by Ariel in his city if it was proven that he was the one on the sex tape.

“The Peterpan band will only be allowed to perform without Ariel,”

Source : thejakartapost.com

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