What they thought was a hilarious prank may have ended their online stardom. Two Instagram influencers were caught in a Bali supermarket wearing a painted-on ‘facemask’. Trying to beat the system for its strict COVID-19 protocols, one of the two influencers entered a Bali supermarket to check if their fake facemask will go unnoticed.
Internet Reactions to the painted ‘facemask’
The two influencers, Josh Paler Lin and Leia Se are both foreigners currently residing in Bali. They are Taiwanese and Russian nationals respectively. The prank started with Leia Se trying to enter the supermarket without a facemask. After being stopped by security, they went back to their car and proceeded to paint a ‘facemask’ on Se’s face. Sadly, the painted-on face mask looked real enough to momentarily fool the security guard. All these were filmed by Lin.
A lot of other Indonesian influencers were calling on immigration to provide proper penalties for the two for violating COVID-19 protocols. The most popular and influential was the post from Niluh Djelantik who is an influential personality (designer and politician) in Bali. This was her post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN3-EpllS7w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Possible Penalties
The two influencers were not caught during the act, which is unfortunate for the Bali supermarket security. However, the video of the prank they have released instantly went viral. There were mixed reactions to the prank where many netizens commented on how reckless and irresponsible it was for the two. Even if it was just to entertain their followers, the risks of other people imitating the prank can be high. Since the prank video received such negative backlash from netizens, the video was immediately taken down.
As of the moment, the passports of the two foreign influencers have been seized by Indonesian immigration. There are plans for the two influencers to be brought in for questioning. After which, the officials will decide on deporting the two influencers back to their respective home countries. There are multiple violations in the prank video. Not only were they violating COVID-19 protocols for not properly wearing a facemask, but they are also indirectly encouraging the public to do the same. Both acts are dangerous and could lead to the further spread of the virus.
The video went viral weeks ago but it was only recently that the two, particularly Josh Lin, released an apology. They are accompanied by their lawyer on this new post. Lin explained that they are not trying to invite anyone not to wear masks nor to disrespect authorities for their actions. He also said that they did expect the video to get that many negative reactions.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/COAKaQGACVt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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