Indonesia Bans 85 Songs For Being Offensive, Including Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of you”
The West Java province of Indonesia has proven that their tastes are not quite like that of the world’s as they have recently banned almost a 100 songs for containing “adult” and “offensive” content.
“Love Me Harder” by Ariana Grande, “Dusk Till Dawn” by Zayn Malik, “Versace on the Floor” by Bruno Mars and “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran are some of the songs on the ban list.
The report from the province’s commission however states that the banned songs may only be aired between 10pm and 3am as they are too steamy to be aired during the daytime.
“In this case, what is banned is not the songs, but the lyrics of the songs that contain pornography, pornographic association, and obscenity.”
According to The Metro, 17 Western pop songs in total have been banned, also including “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars; “Wild Thoughts” by Rihanna; “Mr Brightside” by The Killers; and “Bad Things” and “Sangria Wine” by Camilla Cabello.
On why the songs were banned, the head of the commission, Dedeh Fardiah said some of the lyrics could be understood to be “objectifying women as sexual objects”.
The ban came after complaints by citizens who had opposed thousands of songs.
West Java province has a population of 48 million and is one of Indonesia’s most conservative provinces.