An Indonesian social media influencer has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison for making remarks about Jesus Christ that were deemed offensive to Christianity.
Ratu Thalisa, a Muslim transgender woman with a significant following of nearly 450,000 on TikTok, faced trial in North Sumatra province.
She was found guilty under Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions law for hate speech after comments she made during a live broadcast in October 2024.
During the livestream, Thalisa responded to a comment suggesting she should cut her hair to appear more masculine.
Holding up an image of Jesus Christ, she stated, “You should not look like a woman. You should cut your hair so that you will look like his father.”
This remark led five Christian groups to file complaints with Indonesian authorities, resulting in her arrest on October 8.
Alongside the prison term, the court imposed a fine of approximately $6,200. The court justified its ruling by stating that her comments had the potential to disrupt “public order” and “religious harmony.”
Amnesty International Indonesia strongly criticized the verdict. Usman Hamid, the group’s Executive Director, condemned the ruling, calling it “a shocking attack on Ratu Thalisa’s freedom of expression.”
He argued that while Indonesia should combat religious hatred that incites violence or discrimination, Thalisa’s statement did not meet that threshold.
Hamid further highlighted how the EIT law has been increasingly used to suppress free speech, noting that “from 2019 to 2024 at least 560 people were charged under the EIT Law for defamation, hate speech, and other offenses.”
He called for Thalisa’s conviction to be overturned and for significant reforms to the law, particularly provisions that criminalize “immorality,” defamation, and hate speech.
Thalisa is the latest individual to be convicted of blasphemy in Indonesia, a country where the majority of past cases have involved alleged insults against Islam.
Religious conservatism has been rising in the nation, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, with rights organizations warning that blasphemy laws are increasingly being used against religious minorities.
In recent years, other controversial cases have sparked debates on freedom of expression.
In 2023, Muslim social media influencer Lina Lutfiawati, known as Lina Mukherjee, received a two-year prison sentence after posting a video in which she recited an Islamic prayer before eating pork.
Another high-profile case was that of former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly called Ahok. In 2017, he was jailed for two years after referencing a Quranic verse while campaigning for re-election, despite issuing a public apology.
His conviction was widely seen as a turning point in Indonesia’s increasing use of blasphemy laws.
Thalisa’s case has reignited discussions on the country’s approach to religious sensitivity, free speech, and the enforcement of controversial legal provisions.
