KPI Responds to Olympics Beach Volleyball Broadcast Complaint

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) commissioner, Hardly Stefano, said the airing of women's beach volleyball tournaments from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics does not violate its broadcast program standard (SPS).

His clarification came after a complaint from an audience member went viral in social media, recommending televisions to blur out the female athletes’s physical appearance due to what the person believes is ‘vulgar content.’

“The Olympics female beach volleyball broadcast does not violate the SPS,” said Stefano to Tempo on Thursday, August 5. 

The SPS broadcasting standard’s Article 18 (h) bans programs from airing or exploiting parts of a human body through close up shots or medium shots. This ban is based on two premises, the first is the respect towards Indonesia’s norm of decency and the ban against commodifying a person’s body, especially from a female subject. 

Stefano explained that in its implementation there are parameters that need to be contextually understood such as the background and setting where the athletes are wearing sports spandex and how the location’s setting makes it essential for the athletes to wear the apparel and that camera angles and comments are not used to exploit the female athletes. 

The KPI commissioner assures that the beach volleyball tournaments in the Tokyo Olympics had not violated the aforementioned parameters. 

Read: Indonesia Leads Southeast Asia's Olympics Medals Tally

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