Indonesian authorities are weighing how to deal with British porn performer Bonnie Blue after her arrest in Bali on suspicion of breaching the country’s strict anti-pornography laws, a case that has thrown a spotlight on the island’s uneasy relationship with sex-industry tourism and social media driven adult content.
Blue, whose real name is Tia Billinger, was detained last week during what police allege was a filmed “Bangbus” style stunt that involved a branded vehicle and a group of foreign men. Local media reports, citing police sources, said officers from Badung Police raided a villa and later seized a small blue utility vehicle bearing the slogan “Bonnie Blue’s BangBus,” professional video cameras, large quantities of condoms and so-called erectile drugs. Police also reviewed material on Blue’s social media accounts, where she had been seen publicising her activities in Bali and inviting young men to take part in pornographic content, provided they were over 18.
Seventeen male tourists were detained alongside Blue, including 15 Australian nationals. The men have since been released without charge, according to Australian and Indonesian media, but Blue remains in custody while investigators consider whether to pursue a full prosecution under Law No. 44 of 2008 on pornography. That legislation allows for prison sentences of up to 15 years and fines of as much as six billion rupiah, about 541,000 dollars, for serious violations involving the production and distribution of explicit content.
Police have not publicly set out the precise charges they are considering, and further official updates have been limited. However, officers have indicated that the investigation centres on alleged recording of pornographic material in Indonesia and the promotion of that material online. Images circulated after the raid showed several detainees being led into vehicles with their heads covered by clothing while surrounded by armed officers, underscoring the seriousness with which Balinese authorities approach suspected breaches of public decency regulations.
Legal experts in Indonesia say the outcome for Blue could range from a lengthy court process to a swift deportation, depending on how the case is handled behind the scenes. Philo Dellano, a managing partner at Jakarta-based firm PNB Immigration who specialises in immigration and criminal matters involving foreigners, told News.com.au that police have the power to push for prosecution but that in practice some cases are resolved administratively. “She is being detained by the police, which means they can proceed to prosecute her,” he said, before suggesting that an “invisible hand” could instead request that she be transferred to immigration authorities for deportation.
Dellano argued that the commercial nature of the porn industry, and questions about who ultimately profits from such content, may influence how aggressively prosecutors pursue the matter. “You know this type of industry, there is always someone or an organisation that controls it to make a profit, so it may not be straightforward for her to be prosecuted in Indonesia,” he was quoted as saying. He added that, in his opinion, Blue might ultimately be banned from re-entering the country and removed rather than jailed, particularly if those with influence prefer to avoid a drawn-out and highly public trial.
Another Bali-based lawyer, Krist Andi Ricardo Turnip of Malekat Hukum International Law Firm, offered a more cautious assessment, stressing that Indonesian law applies fully to all foreign nationals on its territory. “Any foreign national suspected of violating Law Number 44 of 2008 concerning pornography can be prosecuted in Indonesia,” he said, citing the principle that everyone within the country’s borders must submit to domestic law. Turnip noted that the statute allows for up to 12 years in prison for those found to have created, displayed or distributed pornographic material in Indonesia and said investigators could also consider the electronic information and transactions law or provisions on decency in the criminal code in certain circumstances.
For now, Indonesian officials have not publicly indicated which view is likely to prevail. Dellano suggested that authorities may wait for public attention to subside and then move to resolve the case quietly, possibly in early 2026. Turnip, by contrast, emphasised that if evidence is deemed strong the case could proceed to a criminal court, whereas if it is judged more appropriate to deal with it administratively, deportation through immigration channels remains open.
Blue’s arrest has drawn attention partly because of her notoriety in the online adult industry. The 26-year-old from Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, has built a large following through explicit content and highly publicised sexual “challenges.” According to her biography on Wikipedia and previous media coverage, she claimed in 2025 to have had sex with 1,057 men in a single day as part of a bid to set a world record, an event filmed for a documentary about her career. The attempt followed earlier controversy in Australia, where she promoted a “Bangbus tour” around the Schoolies festival period, a week-long celebration for recent school leavers. In that promotion, she framed the project as picking up willing young men, emphasising that participants would be over 18 but using language about “barely legal” partners that sparked criticism.
In one interview and social media posts cited by British outlets, Blue spoke openly about targeting fans during the Schoolies season and suggested she would “steal all the barely legal, barely breathing and the husbands,” comments that drew condemnation from some commentators and parents’ groups. The planned Australian tour fed into her wider persona as a performer who pushes the boundaries of legal and social norms to attract subscribers and online attention.
Her activities also brought issues of consent, exploitation and public health into mainstream discussion. Doctors in Australia, including practitioner Zac Turner, previously warned that extreme sexual marathons and large-scale gang-bang events could pose serious physical and psychological risks for participants, including injuries, sexually transmitted infections and longer-term mental health consequences. Blue’s own description of her record-attempt day as consisting of “gangbangs after gangbangs” highlighted the industrial scale of the enterprise and contributed to a broader debate about the direction of the online porn economy.
The Bali case sits within a pattern of Indonesian authorities taking action against foreign visitors who are perceived to have violated local norms on sexuality and respect for religious or cultural sites. In September this year an American woman identified as JRG was deported after hosting an “Intimacy Mastery Retreat” at a luxury villa in the Seminyak area, where participants from several countries took part in explicit workshops. Officials ruled that the paid event misused her visa on arrival and breached moral standards.
In 2024 a Ukrainian woman, identified as VR, and her young child were deported after she allegedly filmed pornographic content at a villa in Ubud while living in Indonesia on an investor permit. Earlier cases have involved Russian nationals arrested over prostitution or commercial sex work. One case that attracted worldwide headlines came in 2022, when Russian yoga influencer Alina Fazleeva and her husband were deported and banned from returning for six months after she posed nude against a 700-year-old sacred tree near a Balinese temple, images that locals considered deeply disrespectful.
Officials have repeatedly said such measures are necessary to protect Bali’s cultural and religious values against what they see as an influx of foreign influencers using the island as a backdrop for provocative content. At the same time, Indonesian tourism authorities promote Bali as a global leisure destination, a tension that becomes more visible whenever a high-profile morality case emerges.
For Blue, the legal jeopardy intersects with a fast-rising but already turbulent career. Within just a few years she has moved from relative obscurity to being one of the most talked-about British performers in online pornography. Reports have claimed that at the height of her popularity she boasted of earning up to seven-figure monthly sums on subscription platform OnlyFans, although those figures have not been independently verified. According to her Wikipedia entry, she later had her OnlyFans account terminated after she promoted a planned “petting zoo” event in which she would be tied naked inside a glass box and have sex with 2,000 men, a concept the platform deemed an “extreme challenge” in violation of its rules.
She has also courted controversy through comments about marital fidelity, suggesting publicly that sleeping with married men is acceptable if they are unhappy in their relationships, and by filming sexual content with university students. Critics have argued that such stunts normalise exploitative dynamics and glamorise behaviour that leaves young men exposed to social embarrassment and potential health consequences, while fans portray her as an unapologetic figure in a consensual adult industry.
Indonesia’s pornography law does not distinguish between content made for subscription websites and material distributed for free. What matters legally is whether explicit acts have been performed and recorded within Indonesian territory and whether they are then shared or commercialised. Lawyers say investigators are likely to scrutinise video files, phone messages and social media posts seized during the raid to determine if Blue or others organised shoots in Bali, recruited participants there or uploaded material showing sexual acts carried out on the island.
If prosecutors choose to pursue the most serious charges and secure a conviction, Blue could in theory face a long prison term and a substantial fine, followed by deportation at the conclusion of her sentence. In practice, many foreign defendants in past cases have received shorter prison terms or have had investigations halted in favour of removal from the country. The handling of her case will be closely watched by both Indonesian civil society groups concerned about moral standards and international observers who argue that adult content involving consenting adults should not be criminalised.
For the young men briefly detained with her, there appears to be no immediate prospect of further legal action. Australian media reported that the schoolies-aged tourists had been questioned and released, although the incident is likely to figure prominently in any future attempts by officials to warn visitors about the limits of acceptable behaviour.
As Blue waits in custody for a decision on whether she will face court or be handed over to immigration, the episode has already altered the trajectory of a career built on testing boundaries. The same social media presence that helped her promote marathon sex events and build a global fan base has also provided investigators with a trail of evidence and fuelled public concern in a country where pornography is illegal and religious conservatism holds significant influence. Whether she ultimately spends years behind bars or is swiftly put on a plane out of Indonesia, the case of Bonnie Blue has become a new reference point in the clash between globalised online sex work and local laws that seek to constrain it.