March 8, 2010
Judge Tom
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Facebook diss gets teen 75 days in prison

Farah Nur Arafah suspected another  girl of attempting to break up her relationship with her boyfriend. So Farah went on Facebook and posted insulting comments about 18-year-old Felly Fandini. She called her a pig and a dog, as well as saying she was overweight and promiscuous.

The girls live near Jakarta, Indonesia. The country has some of the toughest defamation laws in the world. Reportedly, civil and criminal statutes protect the powerful and corrupt from criticism. In recent years, the maximum penalty for criminal defamation has been reduced from death to life in prison.

Jakarta in lower left - Lonely Planet Photo

Farah, also 18, was sentenced on February 16, 2010, to 75 days in prison. Because she cooperated during her trial, the judge suspended the sentence. However, if she breaks the law in the next five months, she’ll have to serve the time. Farah is still on Facebook “But I’ll be more careful about comments I post,” she stated.

Sounds like a good idea.

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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