Why Getting Banned Is Good
“No Viral, No Justice”
I’ve heard this repeated over and over again in the last few weeks.
Since co-founding Nafas 4 years ago, we’ve been raising awareness about air pollution in Indonesia.
Through data, content, events and media interviews.
Nafas is among so many other organizations that are pushing for action.
A few weeks ago, it looks like we pushed further than ever before.
As part of a campaign to raise awareness about high sulfur content in Indonesian gasoline, I also created a video about this.
The news had already hit the main headlines, influencers with large followings had already posted about it.
So it wouldn’t hurt to join as well, right?
“Hey bro, why is your account banned?”
I received this message while I was at a lunch meeting.
I had already prepared a piece of follow up content.
So I opened up my TikTok account, and this is what I saw.
No violations, no other information.
Just like that, a permanent ban.
WHY IT’S NOT A BAD THING
When Nathan and I started building out Nafas, we knew that the subject matter is a sensitive one.
After all, nearly all sectors in any given country are polluters.
Energy. Transport. Industry. Agriculture. Waste Management. Construction
And the irony is that each time pollution gets bad, it’s the Environment Ministry that gets put under fire.
Conversations around environment have always been a gray area.
The loudest voices have traditionally been activist organizations - Greenpeace, SeaShepherd, Extinction Rebellion.
But over the last 4 years, there are more and more groups that are bringing the issue to light.
And the conversation is no longer an activist one.
It’s one of education and understanding.
POLLUTION IS A HEALTH ISSUE, NOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL ONE
A few days ago I listened to a podcast that unraveled the depths of human health
In a conversation with Joe Rogan, Dr. Casey and Calley Means went into immense detail about how the world that we have built for ourselves IS the main cause of our health issues.
The chemicals, the microplastics, the pollution.
All of these impacting the way we live, how we develop and ultimately how our human cells evolve (or devolve).
And it’s the same thing with air pollution in Indonesia.
The Ministry of Health published a list of catastrophic diseases, the ones that have the largest impact on BPJS.
And air pollution plays a role in 7 out of 9 of them.
PM2.5 impacts our entire body - our brain, our heart, our lungs, our skin, our blood.
PM2.5 also impacts things like maternal health and stunting.
As the new government heads towards their first 100 days in office, one thing is clear.
Air pollution needs to be a health priority.
Achieving Indonesia Emas 2045 will be more difficult without fixing the air pollution problem.
To do that, we need to make sure that it makes the agenda.
No Viral, No Justice is right. But get too Viral, and you might get banned.
