In the Indonesian province of West Java, certain songs from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, and Indonesia’s own Agnez Mo are being restricted to late night airplay on the radio in the name of censorship.
The West Java chapter of the Regional Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) has officially issued a circular ordering the province’s radio stations to limit the broadcasting of 17 foreign songs, ranging from the contemporary to hits from the early noughties, the list of which is below:
- Dusk Till Dawn – Zayn Malik
- Sangria Wine – Camila Cabello feat Pharrell Williams
- Mr Brightside – The Killers
- Let Me – Zayn Malik
- Love Me Harder – Ariana Grande
- Plot Twist – Marc E. Bassy
- Shape Of You – Ed Sheeran
- Overdose – Chris Brown feat. Agnez Mo
- Makes Me Wonder – Maroon 5
- That’s What I Like – Bruno Mars
- Fuck it (I Don’t Want You Back) – Eamon
- Bad Things – Camila Cabello feat Machine
- Versace On The Floor – Bruno Mars
- Midsummer Madness – 88rising
- Wild Thoughts – DJ Khaled feat Rihanna
- Till it Hurts – Yellow Claw
- Your Song – Rita Ora
The circular, which was signed by West Java KPID Head Dedeh Fardiah on February 18, stipulated that the above songs cannot be played by radio stations in the province during the day due to their obscene nature.
“Broadcast programs are prohibited to include songs and/or video clips that contain titles and/or lyrics about sex, obscenity and/or visualizing sexual activities; Broadcast programs that feature music are prohibited to air scenes and/or lyrics that can be interpreted as objectifying women to be sexual objects,” a passage in the circular reads, as picked up by Liputan 6 today.
The 17 songs aren’t being totally banned though — fans of the so-called indecent musicians in West Java can still tune in to hear how Ed Sheeran pushes and pulls like a magnet or how in The Killers’ head she’s touching his chest and he’s taking off her dress from 10 pm to 3 am.
Rahmat Arifin, vice chairman of the Indonesian Broadcast Commission (KPI), said it’s within the right of the West Java chapter of the commission to issue the circular, as long as it’s still in accordance with their broadcast guidance and standards (P3SPS). He said the circular is more of an appeal than a regulation, but the West Java KPID could potentially sanction broadcast organizations for playing the 17 songs outside of their allowed hours.
In the meantime, if you have a Spotify account and want to enjoy the 17 songs without any worries of censorship, someone’s already made a playlist in an apparent act of defiance against KPI:
