Sure, all kinds of sexual shenanigans can happen inside hotels. But not even the sleaziest ones would openly advertise that they’re available for sexual services, since prostitution is strictly prohibited in Indonesia.
That’s why the management of Megaland Hotel in the city of Solo was understandably defensive when, on Feb. 28, the LED scrolling text (locally known as “running text”) display on their outdoor sign was changed to include a vulgar message that roughly translates to “Accepts service for female genitalia pubes”. Numerous videos of the display have, of course, gone viral on social media.
“Somebody hacked our running text,” Megaland Hotel general manager Porwanty Astuti said today as quoted by Detik.
Porwanty said the text usually reads, “Welcome to Megaland Hotel — 50% discount for rooms and 30% discount for restaurant.”
But while it may seem like a harmless (if tasteless) prank, as with almost anything containing a whiff of pornography in Indonesia the incident is now being treated as a crime by the local police, who say that they have questioned seven witnesses and have already identified a suspect.
“The suspect will be arrested not long from now,” said Solo Police Chief Hari Wibowo, as quoted by Detik today.
“What’s clear is [the action] caused unrest. Especially with those vulgar words.”
According to the police, the suspect could be charged with defamation of the hotel and/or immorality under the Information and Electronic Transactions Act (UU ITE), which is punishable by up to 4 years’ imprisonment.
Whoever the alleged hacker is, they clearly didn’t learn from the arrest of the man who “hacked” a giant LED billboard in Jakarta and played Japanese porn for everyone to see back in 2016. He was eventually sentenced to six months in jail.
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