Abstract
Offensive social media utterances are a significant linguistic phenomenon eroding communication ethics and often intersecting with potential criminal offenses. A forensic linguistic investigation is crucial to understand their pragmatic characteristics and relationship with legal statutes. This study characterizes offensive statements in the comment section of @lisamarianaaa's Instagram account and analyzes their potential implications under Article 27A of Law No. 1 of 2024 (ITE Law). Using a qualitative, descriptive approach, the study collected 159 offensive comments from 12 controversial posts between January and July 2025, out of approximately 62,000 comments. Data analysis, integrating Searle's speech act theory and Culpeper's impoliteness theory, revealed 159 offensive comments: 93 insults, 53 defamations, 3 provocations, 6 incitements, and 4 false allegations. Legal mapping against ITE Law No. 1 of 2024 showed 94 comments strongly correlated with Article 27A (attacking honor or reputation through accusation). The remaining 65 comments, while ethically problematic, did not meet criminal offense criteria under the ITE Law. This research expands forensic linguistic studies by mapping verbal aggression on social media to digital criminal offenses, supporting rule of law application in the digital sphere.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Vanny Mayhastuti, Agustina (Author)