National airline ‘suing’ passenger over Instagram post of hand-written menu
A popular Youtube personality in Indonesia claims he is being sued by the country’s national airline Garuda for posting a video on Instagram of a hand-written business-class menu.
Rius Vernandes, a well-known vlogger, said he had received a summons from Garuda after posting the video of the menu written on a piece of notepaper with the caption: "The menu is still being printed, sir."
Police have confirmed to local media that Garuda has filed a defamation case against Vernandes.
Garuda also immediately issued a directive to cabin crew to prevent passengers from taking photos or videos during flights. However, it withdrew the directive after it was mocked on social media, asking passengers instead to respect other people’s privacy by not taking their photos.
"Passengers can take photos for personal use such as selfies as long as they do not inconvenience other passengers," the company’s spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said in a statement.
Meanwhile Vernandesis, who has more than 114,000 Instagram followers, is appealing for support on social media. In a post he wrote: "I got a call from the police on this matter. We were reported on suspicion of committing a crime of defamation. I’m sure you know that I have NO intention at all to defame anyone.
"I really ask for your support about this. All of it. Anyone. You all have a voice. Especially influencers. I hope you can help share and support me in this problem because I don’t want in the future when we review things as they are, when we give constructive criticism, we can be criminals."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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