Mocking Indonesia's Traditional Clothing Government Leaders Used Resulted In Huge Social Media Backlash

Indonesia, the archipelago country on the Southeast Asia, is one of the largest countries in Asia.

Spanning within three different timezones, the vast country is also known for its culture and people.

And in 2022, the G20, which is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the EU, aims to address some of the world's major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development, by holding the event in Bali.

In the "Island of the Gods," the summit managed to bring together both Joe Biden and Xi Jinping for the first time since the two became Presidents of the U.S. and China, respectively. Besides that, delegations of Russia were also present, as well as Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman al-Saud, French President Emmanuel Macron, and many more.

In one night, during a gala dinner, the guests were given batik, a traditional Indonesian garment, for them to use, and sure they did wear them.

While many praised how the government leaders can get together during the post COVID-19 pandemic, amid the Russia-Ukraine war, and ahead of the global economic uncertainty, some people just couldn't keep their hate speech to themselves.

Right-wing YouTuber Mahyar Tousi made comments that mocked the government leaders for wearing the Indonesian attire given to them during the gala.

The Iran-born and UK-based Tousi tweeted, “What on earth are these idiots wearing?!” and attached a picture of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Indonesia’s Minister of Trade Zulfikli Hasan, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Martin Schwab during the G20 Summit.

Netizens soon flooded Tousi's tweet with harsh comments.

And not just on Twitter, because some people also sent him comments on his Instagram posts that had nothing to do with the G20.

The comments that kept pouring in were bullying him so badly that he had to delete the tweet.

Tousi then made a series of tweets to apologize.

He apologized for what he described as "an unintentional offence" caused by his social media post.

Tousi claimed that he would like to address the issue “Following a number of death threats and messages from Indonesian citizens and government officials.”

To prevent his tweet from being bombarded by even harsh comments, Tousi sets that only the people he followed or mentioned can reply to the tweets.

"Once again, I apologise for any unintentional offence caused by the tweet joking about G20 leaders wearing Indonesia’s traditional clothing," he said.

Tousi was not the only one who was condemned by Indonesian netizens.

UK-based journalist Sophie Corcoran also posted a tweet questioning the garb.

"Why are they all dressed the same - and like that," said Corcoran.

Their respective Twitter posts quickly met with huge backlash.

Corcoran, whose track record suggests she thrives on online trolling, nonchalantly addressed the backlash by saying that she merely asked a question.

But her more polite approach makes her "a bit" off the hook, which is very much unlike Tousi, whose tweet clearly showed hatred.

By all means, Indonesia is known for various of things.

And on the internet, the country has lots to boast.

For example, its around 70% of its massive 280 million population is already connected to the internet. Tens of millions of them are on Twitter, and more than one hundred million of them are on Instagram.

In fact, Indonesia is one of the most active social media users in the world.

And here, blasting their country's traditional garment means that both and Mahyar Tousi and Sophie Corcoran made the mistake many foreigners have done before, in which they were picking up where they are clearly outnumbered.