Some of Ariana Grande's songs are banned from daylight broadcast in West Java. Photo from Shutterstock
Indonesian parents will need to ensure their kids are tucked in before 10 pm, or else they may risk hearing the lyrics of Shape Of You on the radio. That’s right: in Indonesia’s West Java Province, a list of 85 songs have been banned from being played during the day. Locals of West Java, that is home to over 48 million, might need to wait until bedtime if they want to hear some of their favorite hits on the radio.Of the 85 songs on the list, 17 are Western. The list includes Dusk Till Dawn by Zayn feat Sia, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, Thats What I Like by Bruno Mars and Your Song by Rita Ora. Thousands of other songs also received complaints from the public, but how the 85 tracks were shortlisted is unclear.Grande’s Love Me Harder may have been one of the unlucky few to make the list (“and if in the moment you bite your lip, when I get you moaning you know it's real”), but luckily (or confusingly!), West Java residents can still boogie to her recent hit Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored (“took one fuckin’ look at your face, now I wanna know how you taste, usually don’t give it away, but you know I’m out here thinkin; bout it”). Residents may also be sad to say goodbye to Ora’s Your Song, but weirdly, they can get over their sorrow by blasting her hit Girls, the bi anthem we all love (in case you were living under a rock, Indonesia has extremely strict anti-LGBT laws).Rahmat Arifin, Central KPI Deputy Chairman told Tempo.co that “in this case, what is banned is not the songs, but the lyrics of the songs that contain pornography, pornographic association, and obscenity.”Will this new policy only draw attention to the listed songs though? In 2015, China banned 119 songs from the internet, and netizens had quite the response ready: "Thank you Ministry of Culture for your 'recommendations' I didn't know [about these before], hurrying to listen."
Advertisement