A controversial case in Indonesia has sparked international outrage after Ratu Thalisa, a Muslim transgender TikToker, was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for making a comment about Jesus during a livestream.
Thalisa, who has a following of over 442,000 on TikTok, was responding to a comment that urged her to cut her hair to appear more masculine. In her response, she turned to an image of Jesus on her phone and jokingly suggested that he should also get a haircut.
This remark, made in jest, led to a swift backlash from Christian groups, who filed police complaints citing blasphemy and religious hate speech. On Monday, a court in Medan, Sumatra, found her guilty under Indonesia’s strict Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) law, ruling that her comments had the potential to disrupt public order and religious harmony.
A Crackdown on Free Speech?
The harsh verdict has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations, with Amnesty International condemning the ruling as a violation of freedom of expression.
“This is a shocking attack on Ratu Thalisa’s freedom of expression,” said Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director.
“The Indonesian authorities should not use the country’s Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) law to punish people for comments made on social media.”
Amnesty International has called for the conviction to be overturned and for Thalisa to be released immediately, stressing that her comment did not constitute incitement to violence, hostility, or discrimination—the internationally accepted threshold for restricting free speech.
The case has also reignited concerns over Indonesia’s controversial EIT law, which has been used multiple times to prosecute social media users for alleged blasphemy, defamation, and hate speech.
Growing Concerns Over Indonesia’s Blasphemy Laws
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has a diverse population that includes Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religious minorities. However, blasphemy laws have long been criticized for disproportionately targeting minority groups and dissenting voices.
Between 2019 and 2024, at least 560 people have been charged under the EIT law for alleged violations related to freedom of expression, with 421 of them convicted, according to Amnesty International data.
Notably, most blasphemy cases in Indonesia involve insults against Islam, but Thalisa’s case is unusual because it involves a Muslim individual accused of insulting Christianity.
Past high-profile blasphemy cases include:
- In September 2023, a Muslim woman was sentenced to two years in prison for blaspheming Islam after she posted a viral TikTok video in which she said an Islamic phrase before eating pork.
- In 2024, a TikToker was arrested for posting a quiz asking children what kind of animals can read the Quran.
An Uncertain Future for Ratu Thalisa
Following the court’s decision, prosecutors expressed dissatisfaction and have appealed for a harsher sentence, originally demanding more than four years in prison.
Thalisa, who was given seven days to file an appeal, now faces an uncertain future as legal battles continue.
As Indonesia moves closer to the 2024 presidential elections, activists and legal experts are calling for urgent reforms to the country’s blasphemy and cybercrime laws, which they argue are being weaponized to suppress dissent and limit freedom of speech.
For now, Thalisa remains behind bars, serving one of the most controversial sentences Indonesia has seen in recent years—one that continues to fuel global debates on religious tolerance, freedom of expression, and digital rights.
