In a society where free speech is supposedly guaranteed by law, we often get the impression that many Indonesian leaders feel they should be immune to mockery, whether they deserve to be or not.
This impression was exemplified in a recent speech by former Indonesian president and current PDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who said that Indonesian youth these days lack respect for their leaders.
“Now I see that the youth have no respect nor manners. In social media [leaders] aren’t immune [from mockery]. They even mock their own president. I’m thinking, what kind of country are we?” Megawati said at the inauguration event for the new leaders of the Bamusi Islamic group yesterday, as quoted by Detik.
One might remember that Megawati and current President Joko Widodo have been meme-ified (occasionally using pornographic imagery) in the past, leading the creator of some of the most notorious memes, a 24-year-old sate seller, into hot water with the law.
While some might agree with Megawati in that a line needs to be drawn somewhere regarding free speech, we’d argue that it shouldn’t be limited at all and that the leaders of this country should focus on more pressing matters than how some people mock them, online or elsewhere. Satire is a necessary byproduct of free speech, and we shudder to think what would happen if a country is led by someone who can’t take even the smallest joke.
