Jakarta: Permadi Arya became famous – or infamous, depending on how you look at it – for his satirical YouTube videos lampooning extremism.

One of them, You are Shiite, sends up those who preach that only Sunni Muslims will be guaranteed a plot of land in heaven. “If you don’t believe it, it means you are Shiite,” he raps.

Permadi’s alter ego is Abu Janda, a parody of the late Indonesian Islamic State leader Abu Jandal, who once threatened to slaughter the military and police.

Not everyone was amused. Permadi received texts from strangers: “Hi infidel, you will die tomorrow”.

But more than 70,000 people watched You are Shiite and Permadi felt Muslim moderates like him were gaining traction. He was part of a cyber army taking aim at religious extremism using videos, funny memes and tweets as weapons.

“In 2015 we were facing radical doctrine conveyed through social media,” Permadi says. “We were successful. There were not many people interested in radical doctrine, they preferred our parody videos.”

MORE:   http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/fighting-intolerance-the-challenge-facing-indonesias-moderate-muslims-20170102-gtkv9t