It seems like Indonesian Netizens Behaving Badly Online is becoming a regular thing, with the latest instance involving them smearing the country’s good name by leaving racist comments directed at a Black beauty influencer on TikTok.
Screenshots of these comments are now going around online, as posted by several community accounts on Twitter. They show Indonesian netizens spewing racist comments towards a France-based beauty influencer, @Maglen_oyana, on TikTok.
@maglen_oyanaA quel point ce masque de pastèque est-il satisfaisant 🍉 #asmr #asmrskincare #asmrmassage #skincare #skincarerutine #diy #esfolio #holikaholika♬ original sound – Mireya Rios
In the ASMR video, Maglen appears to be applying various kinds of masks, including a gel-based watermelon-flavored mask, rolling a green quartz facial roller on her sheet mask, and finishing off her routine with a pair of under-eye masks.
Dis! i’m sorry for being Indonesian😭 pic.twitter.com/ljKeelvDza
— AREA JULID (@AREAJULID) July 8, 2021
The hurtful comments seen in the screenshots all but highlight Maglen’s skin tone.
“You’re not pretty, I want [my skin to be] light not black,” a comment reads.
“How come you’ve applied so many skincare [products] but you’re still black,” reads another.
“It’s no use that you’ve bought those skincare products, you better give them all to me,” another commenter wrote, making it sound like she’s completely oblivious to how skincare actually works.
These bad apples are certainly cause for concern, but thankfully there were other Indonesians who left positive comments in both English and Indonesian on Maglen’s TikTok, praising her beautiful skin and complexion. Some Indonesians even apologized on behalf of their racist compatriots, while reminding others to mind their manners online and perhaps try unlearning the rooted notion that beauty only applies to those who possess a light skin tone. At the risk of tooting our own horn, here at Coconuts, we believe everyone is beautiful.
Though the matter has sparked a discourse in Indonesia in recent days, Maglen has yet to speak on the matter at the time of writing. It appears that she’s been doing business as usual, as the video above — which has amassed over 3.2 million views — was uploaded in early May.
We certainly wish for the day that Indonesian netizens can learn to at least be civil online — especially after the country came last in Southeast Asia in the the Digital Civility Index (DCI) survey conducted by Microsoft earlier this year. Looking at how these types of incidents keep on occurring, though, we probably still have a long way to go.
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