An Indonesian man who hacked into an electronic billboard and streamed a pornographic film on it could face up to 12 years in jail for the stunt. 

Indonesian police said the 24-year-old IT analyst had admitted the crime. Pornographic material is illegal in the Muslim-majority South East Asian nation, which also heavily censors films to remove any sexually suggestive content.  

The man streamed a Japanese pornographic film for upwards of five minutes on the Jakarta billboard, leaving some motorists horrified and others reaching for their mobile phones to film the incident and post it on social media. 

He claimed to have accessed the billboard after spotting login details displayed on it, news agency AFP reported. 

"The suspect claims he worked alone," Jakarta Police Chief Muhammad Iriawan told AFP. "But we are still investigating whether he was working alone, whether he had a particular motive or whether he was just fooling around."

It is not yet known whether the man will be charged under an Electronic Transaction Law, which carries a maximum prison sentence of six years, or the more punitive Pornography Law, with its 12-year maximum sentence.