Gay Muslim comic gone from Instagram after Indonesia warning

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Instagram account that published comic strips depicting the struggles of gay Muslims in Indonesia has disappeared following a frenzy of outrage online in the world’s biggest Muslim nation.

The Ministry of Communications said the account under the username Alpatuni was pornographic, a violation of a law on information and electronic transactions. In a statement Wednesday, the government said Instagram had “fulfilled” its request made in a warning letter for the account to be removed.

Instagram, however, said it had not removed the account. The company said there were many reasons an account may no longer be accessible, including the account holder deleting it, deactivating it or changing the username.

The comics depicted gay characters facing discrimination and abuse, which has become increasingly common in Indonesia since late 2015 when conservative politicians and religious leaders began a campaign of portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a threat.

Local media, quoting the communications minister, reported that the ministry would block Instagram in Indonesia if the Alpatuni account wasn’t removed.

The government frequently threatens to block Western social media and internet companies for content deemed illegal but has never taken such measures, possibly fearful of a public backlash due to the huge popularity of the services with Indonesians. In 2017, it briefly and partially blocked the Telegram messaging app because of its failure to remove groups linked to violent jihad.

An account with the name Alpatuni on Facebook, which owns Instagram, was also no longer accessible, nor was another with the same name on Twitter.

Facebook is regularly in the crosshairs of regulators, rights groups and the public as it tries to balance what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called “giving people a voice” and demands for censorship of content posted on the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services.