Surabaya – The East Java Regional Police (Polda) Cyber Directorate has arrested four people suspected of being involved in a same sex network or gay group on social media. The four are MI (21) a resident of Jalan Gubeng in Surabaya, Z (24) from Jalan Tambaksari in Surabaya, FS (44) from Dukuh Pakis in Surabaya and S (66) from Jombang.
East Java Regional Police public relations chief Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abast said that the uncovering of the network began with the discovery of a Facebook group called "Gay-Tuban-Lamongan-Bojonegoro" which was managed by one of the suspects, MI.
MI used the group to send links to the "INFO VID" WhatsApp group to bring together people who like the same sex.
"In addition to creating the group, MI played a role in recruiting new members to the suspect's INFO VID WhatsApp group", said Abast at the East Java Regional Police Headquarters on Friday June 13.
In the WhatsApp group, the other suspects RZ (24), FS (44) and S (66) often shared same sex pornographic or immoral content with the intention of finding partners and dates.
"The three suspects are members of the WA group. So they often sent videos of same sex relations to the group", he explained.
Abast said that the suspects were not looking for money or profit. This network was created only to satisfy their desires and have fun.
"According to their confessions, the goal was also to find a partner, to attract a partner. So, they exchanged videos of same-sex relationships to attract other same-sex couples", said Abast.
The four are suspected of violating Article 45 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 27 paragraph (1) of Law 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) as last amended by Law Number 1/2024 on the Second Amendment to Law Number 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions and/or Article 29 in conjunction with Article 4 paragraph (1) of Law Number 44/2008 on Pornography and/or Article 82.
Then, in conjunction with Article 76E of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 17/2016 on Stipulations on Government Regulation in Lieu of Law Number 1/2016 on the Second Amendment to Law Number 23/2002 on Child Protection.
"This carries a punishment of a minimum sentence of six years imprisonment and a maximum of 12 years, and a fine of at least 250 million rupiah or a maximum of 1 billion rupiah", he concluded. (dal/frd/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "4 Admin Grup Medsos Ditangkap Terkait Jaringan Gay Surabaya".]
