Playboy Indonesia and the Media: Commerce and the Islamic Public Sphere on Trial in Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines the reactions of conservative Islamist groups to the publication of Playboy Indonesia and argues that their views deserve more recognition than they have received. In November 2006, the Public Prosecutor sued the Chief Editor of Playboy Indonesia for offending public morality. The prosecution of the magazine signified concerns about the global spread of commercial media products and the circulation of sexual imagery derived from other places, histories and norms. It was also about frustrated political ambitions and the interest some conservative Islamist groups had in reinstating the Jakarta Charter and establishing the rule of Sharia law.