The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation

This piece of nonsense has appeared in online lists of “The World’s Strangest Laws” for over a decade. It has also been republished online since 2007 by newspapers such as Australia’s The Daily Telegraph, where editors were either too stupid or too lazy to check facts. There is no Indonesian legislation specifically banning masturbation. The closest is Article 281 of Indonesia’s antiquated Criminal Code, which mandates a maximum penalty of two years and 8 months or a maximum fine of Rp3,000 for any person who “with deliberate intent publicly offends against decency”. Article 6 of the 2008 Pornography Law carries a maximum penalty of ten years in jail or a fine of Rp5 billion for anyone who publicly exhibits or depicts nudity or other pornographic content. Another online list of bizarre (fake) Indonesian laws claims: “No woman is allowed to be taller than her husband – if necessary she must chop off a section of her legs.”