--- title: Indonesia Broadcasting Body Bans 'Offensive' English Songs description: Songs by Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and others have been banned from being played in daylight hours in the Indonesian province of West Java. canonical: https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/ author: Hillary Leung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-27T09:55:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:44.294Z og:title: Indonesian Broadcasting Body Bans Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars og:description: "The lyrics of the songs ... contain pornography," one official said og:url: https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9540ee009a96e63d/698945ec656a3f3c53bd6b51/gettyimages-926270392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Ed Sheeran Performs In Perth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Indonesian Broadcasting Body Bans Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars twitter:description: "The lyrics of the songs ... contain pornography," one official said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9540ee009a96e63d/698945ec656a3f3c53bd6b51/gettyimages-926270392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Songs by Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Others Have Been Banned in Indonesia's Most Populous Province > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b7e44919-5395-4172-ab8b-48e22f92b3aa&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Feb 27, 2019 9:55 AM UTC  Ed Sheeran performing in Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia on Mar. 2, 2018 Ed Sheeran performing in Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia on Mar. 2, 2018 Matt Jelonek—WireImage/Getty Images by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Feb 27, 2019 9:55 AM UTC A broadcasting commission in Indonesia [has placed a ban on ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/27/pornographic-songs-by-ed-sheeran-and-ariana-grande-banned-in-indonesian-province)more than a dozen English songs that authorities say contain adult and offensive content, the _Guardian_ reports. The airing of popular tunes, which include Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You”, Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor” and Ariana Grande’s “Love Me Harder”, will not be allowed during daylight hours, and can only be broadcast between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. The commission that has issued the ban is based in West Java, a conservative province in Indonesia that is also the country’s most populous with 48 million residents. According to the _Guardian_, commission head Dedeh Fardiah said that some of the lyrics could be interpreted as “objectifying women as sexual objects”. “What is banned is not the songs, but the lyrics of the songs that contain pornography, pornographic association, and obscenity,” Rahmat Arifin, the deputy head, [told Tempo.co](https://en.tempo.co/read/1179763/kpi-17-western-songs-curbed-from-being-aired-in-west-java). A total of 85 songs are on the ban list, 17 of which are western pop songs. This is not the first time that Indonesia has tried to keep foreign influences it deems inappropriate out of the conservative Muslim-majority country. In 2016, officials [banned Tumblr](http://time.com/4227570/indonesia-bans-tumblr-over-pornography/) after saying the site distributed pornographic content, and in 2014, the country [blocked the release](http://time.com/36564/noah-russell-crowe-movie-banned-by-indonesia/) of _Noah_, a Hollywood film starring Russell Crowe, on the basis that it contradicted the teachings of the Koran. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/"},"headline":"Songs by Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Others Have Been Banned in Indonesia's Most Populous Province","datePublished":"2019-02-27T09:55:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:44.294Z","description":"\"The lyrics of the songs ... contain pornography, pornographic association, and obscenity,\" one official said","url":"https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/","keywords":["Newsfeed","indonesia","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9540ee009a96e63d/698945ec656a3f3c53bd6b51/gettyimages-926270392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9540ee009a96e63d/698945ec656a3f3c53bd6b51/gettyimages-926270392.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ed Sheeran Performs In Perth","caption":"Ed Sheeran Performs In Perth","creditText":"Matt Jelonek—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5539662/indonesia-ed-sheeran-bruno-mars-pop-songs-banned/","name":"Songs by Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Others Have Been Banned in Indonesia's Most Populous Province"}}]}] ```