Link Search Menu Expand Document
Publications
  1. GA and MYD Case (2020)

GA and MYD Case (2020)

Ten years after the AP, LM and CT case, GA, a woman public figure, was caught in a similar case of distribution pornographic content that was made for private ownership yet was spread through social media platforms by others without her consent. This case started on 2017 when a woman and a man (who are recognized as GA and MYD) had sex in a hotel in Medan and recorded this with a smartphone. Early November 2020, a 19-second pornographic video circulated on social media with a female character who looked very similar to GA. This video was reported by Febrianto Dunggio as the General Chairperson of the NGO Alliance of Young Indonesian Fighters to the police (Polda Metro Jaya) and the Ministry of Communication and Information on the grounds of disturbing the public.26 Shortly after, GA herself reported the infringement of personal data. Following an investigation carried out by the police, on 29 December 2021, GA

Enforcement and Oversight Institution (LP3HI) aimed at releasing the status of suspects CT and LM, was rejected by the South Jakarta District Court on August 7, 2018.

25 Bandung High Court, “Decision Number 68/Pid/2011/PT.BDG”, p. 32.

26 Adi Briantika, “The Rubber Article of the Pornography Law Can Turn Victims into Perpetrators”, https://tirto.id/pasal-karet-uu-pornografi-bisa-ubah-korban-jadi-pelaku-f8JU, accessed January 21, 2021.

and MYD were named suspects with charges based on Article 4 Paragraph (1) jo. Article 29 and/or Article 8 jo. Article 34 of Pornography Law and threatened with imprisonment for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 years and/or a fine of at least 250 million rupiahs and a maximum of 6 billion rupiahs.27

This situation triggered a public outcry, with both critics and those who pitied the accused speaking out. Public comments related to this case continued to spread widely and even targeted GA’s family and relatives, such as media requests for comments to GM (her ex-husband) and even questioning her child’s future, GNM. This situation was also exacerbated by the mass media which released clickbait titles regarding this case or even articles that were completely irrelevant to the case, such as interviewing parties outside GA or MYD and making news such as from Kompas.com titled, “4 Comments from RM (GA’s former in-laws) Regarding GA’s Determination as a Suspect”28; news from Gridstar.id titled, “After the long silence, GM (GA’s ex-husband) finally gives this response to the question of the video of the girls who looks like GA, admits to be disturbed”29; and also news from Kumparan.com titled, “#KasianG (the initial of GA’s daughter name) Trending After Explicit Videos Similar to GA Went Viral” by adding a snippet from the video.30 It did not stop there. Indonesian media mass published excerpts of the video, adding GA’s full name and history, together with photos of GA. While in fact, according to Article 5 of Journalistic Code of Ethics, the identity of GA as an OGBV victim should have kept secret, without any exceptions – the fact that GA is a public figure should not make a difference.31 The media crews did not show any consideration to the OGBV perspective, so a lot of news just cornered GA and revictimized her, perpetuating the harmful features of a patriarchal culture. As an

27 Muhammad Isa Bustomi, “The Video Case File of Syur Gisel and Nobu Has Been According, The Police Send It Back to the Prosecutor’s Office”, https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/02/16215911/berkas-kas-video-syur- gisel-dannobu-hascompleted-police-kirim?page=all, accessed March 5, 2021.

28 Baharudin Al Farisi, “4 Comments by Roy Marten on the Determination of Gisel as a Suspect”, https://www.kompas.com/hype/read/2021/01/04/105522566/4-komentar-roy-martensalah-penetapangisel- as-suspect?page=all, accessed June 25, 2021.

29 Tiur Kartikawati Renata Sari, “Lam Silence, Gading Marten Finally Gives This Response About Syuro Video Similar to Gisella Anastasia, Admits Disturbed by Gossip Linking It”, https://star.grid.id/read/452482816/lama-bungkam-gading-marten-finally-reports-this-the-video-syurlike-gisella-anastasia-admit-to-be-bothered-with-gossip-relatedit?page=all, accessed June 25, 2021.

30 Artist News, “The hashtag #KasianGempi is trending after an exciting video like Gisella Anastasia Viral”, https://kumparan.com/berita-artis/tagar-kasiangempi-trending-usai-video-syur-miripgisella-anastasiaviral-1uXanjRj20R/full , accessed June 25, 2021.

31 Press Council, Journalists’ Pocket Book, Cet. 7, (Jakarta: Press Council, 2017), p. 38

illustration of this, media reports continued to ignore the victims’ story about the incident, while the hashtag #KasianG (#PityG) which went viral after the video went viral on Twitter and referred directly to GA’s child – who had nothing to do with this case. Responses from Indonesian citizens posted through this hashtag were also pitied G (her child), sneered at GA’s inappropriate behavior, and thus labeled GA’s with a cynical title as “Young Mama Unifying the Nation (Mama Muda Pemersatu Bangsa)”, because of how the viral video became the main discussion in the nation.32

GA herself held a press conference regarding this case at Four Seasons Hotel on 6 January 2021. She outlined several points through this press conference, such as thanking all those who came, apologizing to the Indonesian people, families, and relatives for her actions and “not being a good example”. She thanked the whole GA team and relatives during case settlement and promised to improve her behavior in the future and continuing to be cooperative with the legal process. However, there is one statement that should get more attention from the public and law enforcement officers. GA proclaimed, “ [You should] Know that the video was shown without my permission and that it is a part of my past and not from my new life today… “.33 This statement contained GA’s identification as a victim – not a perpetrator - as she never had agreed to the distribution of the video which went viral without her consent. However, in the comments of this press conference video, there are still some comments existing to judge and victim-blames GA, such as user ‘MJ’ stating comments like, “Spread positivity GA, know how to dress politely in the future, surely more people will respect you”.34 This comment alone earned 175 likes with 55 reply comments that reap the pros and cons from MJ’s comments. Many users also left judgmental comments against GA. Several users blamed GA for the incident because her inability to ‘cover herself’. There were also parties who do not agree with this statement because according to them clothing is not a key factor in this condition, even morality. A minority of users pitied GA as being a victim and

32 Panji Baskhara, “Gisel’s Video Link Hunted by Netizens on Social Media, Still Trending on Twitter Until It’s Called Unifying the Nation”. https://wartakota.tribunnews.com/2020/11/07/linkvideo-gisel-diburunetizen-di-medsos-masih-trending-di-twitter-to-disebut-pemersatubangsa?page=2, accessed June 25, 2021.

33 KH Infotainment, “Gisella Anastasia Holds Her Cry, makes a hole in Sorry and Regret”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjOT_acPCZA, seconds 2:58 to 3:09, accessed 25 June 2021.

34 KH Infotainment, “Gisella Anastasia Holds Her Cry, makes a hole in Sorry and Regret”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjOT_acPCZA, Comment Column, accessed June 25, 2021.

wanted to hearten her.35 This case shows several facts. First, GA was not protected by the legal system as a victim of OGBV. Second, there is still a public perception that will refuse to view GA as a victim. Third, within the public debate there are those who speak out for GA as a victim, moral support many other victims lack as the debate solely took place because GA is a public figure.

Table of Contents