Wearing colorful traditional costumes, around 500 activists demonstrated outside the House of Representatives on Thursday, demanding lawmakers abandon their deliberation of the pornography bill.

The protesters said the bill endangered freedom of expression and put Indonesia's diverse cultural traditions at risk. During the demonstration, they released hundreds of balloons painted with anti-bill slogans into the air.

The protesters said they planned larger more-flamboyant actions in the future. "This is just a warm-up rally – we expect far more people to protest the bill at future events," rally coordinator Henry Pardede said.