Indonesia: Police Arrest Computer Analyst for Streaming Pornography on Electronic Billboard

Jakarta motorists had an especially interesting commute last week when a Japanese porn film was screened on an electronic billboard for about five minutes until power to the billboard could be cut. The prankster has been identified as a 24-year-old IT analyst named Samudera al Hakam Ralial, according to International Business Times, and he might end up in prison until he is 30.

The BBC reports that Indonesia’s motorists responded to the porn film much as Americans would have, by capturing the racy footage on their cellphones and uploading it to social media.

“The suspect claims he worked alone, but we are still investigating whether he was working alone, whether he had a particular motive or whether he was just fooling around,” said Jakarta police chief Muhammad Iriawan, after the man was taken into custody at his office. He reportedly said he got the idea for his stunt after he saw the billboard display its own login credentials.

“Access to pornographic websites is blocked in Muslim-majority Indonesia, which has in the past also banned popular websites such as Tumblr and Vimeo for adult content,” notes the BBC.

This raises the possibility that the prank could have been intended as some sort of protest against the law. The Associated Press adds that the steamy billboard show occurred shortly after Friday prayers at Muslim mosques.

However, the suspect has evidently told police he did not realize the video to the billboard was pornographic in nature.