TikTok Kiss Caning
Aceh Publicly Canes Couple for TikTok Kiss; Sharia Law Extends to Non-Muslims
Key Points
The couple were arrested in April after their February 27 TikTok livestream in which they kissed in a car in Banda Aceh.
Aceh’s Sharia law has been extended to non-Muslims since 2015, with non-Muslims comprising about 1% of the province’s population.
Digital evidence from the livestream—the couple’s cellphone and a USB drive containing the TikTok video—was seized by authorities and ordered destroyed.
On the same day, four other people were publicly caned for online gambling and adultery, illustrating broader enforcement of Sharia penalties in Aceh.
An unmarried couple in Indonesia's Aceh province was publicly caned 21 times each on July 2 for kissing during a TikTok livestream. Around 100 people watched the punishment carried out at a park in Banda Aceh, Associated Press reported. The head of the local Sharia police called it "the first time in this province that people were punished for violating Sharia law through social media."
The 22-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were arrested in April after their February 27 livestream went viral. The original sentence of 25 lashes was cut to 21 because the couple had already spent four months in detention, according to The Guardian. A woman who was caned collapsed in pain during the punishment, AOL reported.
A Kiss on Camera Triggered Arrest and Trial
The couple filmed themselves kissing inside a car during a TikTok livestream on February 27. The video spread quickly across local social media. Members of the public reported it to the Wilayatul Hisbah — Aceh's Sharia police. Officers seized the couple's cellphone and a USB drive containing the video as evidence. The court later ordered both items destroyed, The Guardian reported.
A Sharia court convicted them of ikhtilat — intimacy between an unmarried man and woman. The punishment took place at Bustanussalatin City Park. Five other people were caned the same day for online gambling and adultery, according to Associated Press. One spectator, local resident Aulia Saputra, said he hoped the caning would "serve as a lesson" and "create a deterrent effect."
Aceh's Sharia Law Reaches Beyond Muslims and Into Digital Life
Aceh is the only Indonesian province allowed to run its own Islamic criminal courts. The central government gave Aceh this power in 2001 and expanded it through the 2005 Helsinki Peace Accord, which ended a long separatist conflict. The Qanun Jinayat — Aceh's Islamic criminal code — was enacted in 2014 and took effect in 2015. It allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses, The Straits Times reported.
Since 2015, the law has also applied to non-Muslims. About 90,000 non-Muslim residents — roughly 1% of Aceh's population — live under these rules. Non-Muslims who commit an offense alongside a Muslim can be tried in Sharia court. Human rights groups say the alternative — years in a national prison — makes this "choice" effectively forced, according to The Guardian.
Amnesty International Calls the Caning Torture
Amnesty International condemned the punishment in sharp terms. Montse Ferrer, the group's co-regional director, called it "a horrifying act of discrimination and a grim reminder of the enduring human rights violations in the province." Amnesty said the caning violates the UN Convention against Torture, which Indonesia signed in 1998.
Human rights groups say public caning is cruel, inhuman, and degrading. They warn the TikTok case sets a dangerous new precedent. Sharia police did not catch the couple in person — they used a video file as evidence. Analysts say local content creators are already self-censoring online to avoid similar charges, according to The Straits Times.
Aceh's Harshest Punishments Keep Getting More Severe
The 21-lash sentence in this case is far from the worst Aceh has handed down. Earlier in 2026, one person received 140 lashes in a single session — for combining alcohol use with extramarital sex — according to CBS News. Aceh officials defend caning as a form of "local wisdom" that lets offenders return to society quickly, rather than spending years in prison.
Human rights observers say the province is expanding Sharia enforcement into new territory — both digital and demographic. Tensions remain between Aceh's special legal status and Indonesia's national constitution. Legal analysts warn the use of social media content as evidence in Sharia courts may trigger a new round of national judicial review, The Straits Times reported.
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