Indonesians have met the proposed bill with resistance and demonstrators have organized numerous street protests. Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim nation.
“A law must not create divisions within the nation and must be accepted by all citizens,” House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono said.
While the main crux of the proposed law is to protect minors from adult content, it also contains language that could imprison people from kissing in public and could suppress traditional cultural expressions of sexuality.
“In places like Bali and Papua, bare-breasted women are a daily sight,” Laksono said. “If such things are banned it will be against local customs.”
Additionally, the name of the bill has been changed from the Anti-Pornography and Pornographic Action Bill to just the Pornography Bill. Its main backers are Islamic groups.
Sexually explicit material is illegal in Indonesia, but can be widely purchased.
Laksono told Reuters he expects the bill to pass by the end of the year.
