Tame Version of Playboy Hits Jakarta Stands

Posted on Apr 6, 2006

AP / Irwin Fedriansyah

A vendor sells Indonesian version of Playboy magazine on a street in Jakarta, Friday, April 7. The toned-down edition of Playboy went on sale Friday in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, defying demands from Islamic leaders that the publication be banned.

Islamic hard-liners called the magazine a form of moral terrorism, despite the fact that there are no nude photos in it.

This is reminiscent of what happened in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain when titillating material quickly appeared and then spread like kudzu.

Liberties will always rush to fill a vacuum, just not necessarily in the way favored by religious fundamentalists.

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AP Via CNN:

JAKARTA, Indonesia—A toned-down edition of Playboy magazine went on sale Friday in Indonesia, defying threats of protests by Islamic hardliners who called the publication a form of moral terrorism in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

The magazine does not feature nude women, and its photos of female models in underwear are no more risque than those in other magazines already for sale in the country. More explicit photos appear daily in local tabloids.

Protesters hit the streets in towns across Indonesia when the magazine announced in January it was planning a local version, but it remains to be seen whether demonstrations will pick up again after people have read it.

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