Popular songs like Ariana Grande‘s ‘Love Me Harder’, Bruno Mars ‘Versace On the Floor’, Ed Sheeran‘s ‘Shape of You’, and 85 other songs by International artists, have reportedly banned in Indonesia. The songs have been considered as ‘pornographic’ and wouldn’t be allowed to play in daylight hours in West Java province.
The authorities have sent a memorandum to the West Java Broadcasting Commission where they have mentioned 85 songs for having ‘offensive’ and ‘adult’ content. Out of these mentioned songs, 17 are by International artists and only will be aired between 10 pm to 3 am. According to the reports from Indonesian magazine Tempo.co, ”In this case, what is banned is not the songs, but the lyrics of the songs that contain pornography, pornographic association, and obscenity,” Rahmat Arifin, deputy head of the commission”.
The commission head, Dedeh Fardiah, also mentioned that certain lyrics from these songs could be perceived as ”objectifying women as sexual objects”. Responding to the reports, Bruno Mars jokingly thanked Ed Sheeran for his ‘sick’ and ‘Perverted’ lyrics. He wrote, “Dear Indonesia, I gave u the wholesome hits “Nothin On You,” “Just The Way You Are,” & “Treasure.” Don’t lump me in with that sexual deviant.”
WTF! I was poppin in Indonesia! Then here comes @edsheeran with his sick, perverted lyrics, gettin us all pinched! Thanks Ed. Thanks a lot 🙄 https://t.co/boxHS890AE
— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) February 27, 2019
Dear Indonesia, I gave u the wholesome hits “Nothin On You,” “Just The Way You Are,” & “Treasure.” Don’t lump me in with that sexual deviant
— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) February 27, 2019
According to the reports from Metro Magazine, other songs that are included in the list are Bruno Mars’ ‘That’s What I Like’ and ‘Versace On The Floor’, ‘Wild Thoughts’ by Rihanna, ‘Mr. Brightsideby’ The Killers, and Camilla Cabello’s ‘Bad Things’ and ‘Sangria Wine’.