Harassing Islamic Boarding Schools, DPR Will Summon Komdigi And KPI Regarding #BoycottTrans7

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, condemned the broadcast of a national television station that was considered harassing kiai and Islamic boarding schools. According to him, the show not only violates ethics and social norms, but also has the potential to disrupt national unity.

"We have to protect the public space from narratives that can hurt people's feelings, especially those related to religious symbols. The media should be the glue of the nation, not even an opinion gathering tool that can divide or cause unrest in the community," Cucun told reporters, Wednesday, October 15.

Cucun also stated that his party would summon related parties from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), to representatives from Trans7 TV stations as a form of supervision.

"We, the DPR, certainly have a responsibility to supervise issues that are troubling the public. This is also a form of our aspirations, because many have protested the program's broadcast content," said Cucun.

"We will call representatives from Komdigi, KPI, and Trans7 themselves. We will have an audience regarding this issue, because the issue has become quite large and affects the lives of many people," continued the PKB legislator from the West Java electoral district.

Cucun also emphasized that Trans7 needs to be responsible for the show by taking concrete steps, especially if there is an element of intent. Because broadcasts on TV program content have the potential to be misleading and create negative views on religious institutions and education such as pesantren.

The media must always maintain ethics and be sensitive to religious values that are an important part of people's lives. Being a peace interpreter, not even pitting each other between communities. "The media should not divide the nation," he said.

"In my opinion, if you look at the title of the show, there is an element of intent in building a misleading narrative, meaning that this can enter the realm of sedition. So I encourage that this broadcast and the parties involved to be processed immediately according to the existing code of ethics and rules, so that it becomes a lesson for all," he continued.

The leadership of the DPR, the coordinator of the people's welfare sector (Korkesra), one of whose work matters related to religious issues, also emphasized that Indonesia respects freedom of expression as part of human rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Even so, Cucun said that this freedom must be carried out with full responsibility and should not be misused to spread narratives that divide the nation.

"We certainly respect freedom of expression, but freedom has its limits. Do not let entertainment content be an entry point for efforts to attract public opinion that demean pesantren, especially with content that can trigger horizontal conflicts," he concluded.

As is known, the hashtag #BoycottTrans7 has been busy being discussed on social media X (Twitter) since Monday, October 13, the night until today followed the controversy about broadcasts that were deemed offensive to the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School.

The boycott emerged as a reaction to netizens' disappointment with the 'Xpose Uncensored' program in Trans7 which was considered harassing Islamic boarding schools and scholars. In the episode of the Xpose program, which is being discussed, it shows a number of narratives and visuals that are considered to create negative stereotypes of life in Islamic boarding schools.

The segment also has a provocative and inappropriate title, namely 'Just drink milk and squat, is this life in the hut?'. The video clip went viral and sparked public anger because it was considered offensive to the life of students and harassed the values that were upheld by the pesantren world.