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‘If I were gay’ YouTube video playing as ad during kids’ cartoon triggers Indonesia – Coconuts Jakarta

News Editor

A crass and overtly sexual music video with an apparent intent to demean the LGBT community found its way as an ad for kids’ content on YouTube, a viral video in Indonesia has shown, triggering huge outrage in the country.

A very concerned Indonesian mother took to Instagram recently to post a video recording of her TV screen as it played the music video, titled Andai Aku Homo (If I were gay). The MV, which features bananas as a phallic symbol and other fruits depicted in sexually suggestive manners, sees the singer fantasizing about the things he would get up to if he were gay, only to exclaim that he is not gay.

In the video, which has been widely reposted across social media platforms since the original was uploaded on Sept. 9, the mother was audibly outraged that the music video popped up as a YouTube ad while her child was watching a cartoon for kids.

Other parents also came forward with similar complaints online, saying that the very same music video also rudely interrupted their kids’ viewing experience. 

Some of the complaints said they used the regular YouTube app, but some said they used the ostensibly child-friendly YouTube for Kids app, pointing to a possible fault in the platform’s ad algorithm given that similar slip-ups have happened before. 

The music video has been taken down amid the controversy. The channel that hosted the video does not contain any other videos.

The Communications and Information Ministry says it is aware of the public’s outrage toward the music video and is demanding an explanation from YouTube. The platform’s Indonesian office has not issued a public statement as of the time of writing.

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