Imagine a country where speaking your mind, asking tough questions, or simply advocating for a cleaner environment can mark you as an enemy of the state. This isn’t a dystopian novel; it’s the unsettling reality facing activists, journalists, and everyday citizens in Indonesia under President Prabowo Subianto’s leadership, according to a recent report by Amnesty International. The report, “Building up Imaginary Enemies,” pulls back the curtain on a deeply troubling trend: the systematic use of online disinformation, often by official military-connected social media accounts, to silence critics and justify a crackdown on dissent. It’s a modern-day witch hunt, but instead of burning at the stake, people are being burned by online smears that cast them as “foreign agents”—a label that quickly escalates from online ridicule to real-world threats and even violence. And while this chilling narrative unfolds, major tech giants like Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube are, in essence, letting the fire spread by failing to adequately moderate this harmful content.
At its core, this isn’t just about nasty comments online; it’s a political strategy, a weaponized narrative designed to maintain power by discrediting anyone who dares to challenge the status quo. As Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International, powerfully states, “This disinformation is a political weapon, deployed to consolidate the government’s power when public criticism intensifies, while demonizing and weakening those who dare to speak out.” Since President Prabowo took office, Indonesia has seen a surge in protests against issues ranging from corruption to environmental destruction. Instead of engaging with these legitimate concerns, the government and its supporters resort to a familiar playbook: accusing critics of being paid off, manipulated by foreign interests, or simply trying to “undermine” the nation. This “foreign agent” slur is particularly insidious because it often targets individuals and organizations that receive completely legitimate international funding – a common practice for civil society groups worldwide. Amnesty’s research reveals that these disinformation campaigns aren’t organic; they’re coordinated operations, with hundreds of accounts acting in sync to flood platforms with identical, fabricated messages. The goal isn’t just to spread misinformation; it’s to intentionally deceive, to create an enemy where none exists, and to paint anyone critical of the government with a broad stroke of suspicion.
The consequences of being branded a “foreign agent” are far more severe than just damaged reputations. For people like Andrie Yunus, a prominent activist with KontraS, the online smears turned into a horrific physical attack. After leading peaceful protests against military law revisions, Yunus found himself the target of a coordinated online assault, with accounts, some even claiming to be part of the Indonesian military, labeling him a “foreign agent.” Then, in a terrifying escalation, he was subjected to an acid attack in Jakarta, suffering severe burns. Even after military officers were arrested in connection with the attack, the disinformation didn’t stop; online videos incredibly accused Yunus of faking his own assault to gain more foreign funding. This isn’t an isolated incident. Independent media outlets like Tempo, a highly respected news organization, faced relentless online campaigns accusing them of being foreign-controlled after they published critical reports. These online attacks were eerily followed by acts of chilling intimidation, like a severed pig’s head and decapitated rats being sent to their newsroom. The disinformation then twisted these threats, attempting to portray them as staged stunts by Tempo to gain international sympathy. For activists like Iqbal Damanik of Greenpeace Indonesia, who protested mining activities, the online harassment translated into terrifying death threats, with anonymous messages promising, “Your head will fall to the ground.”
This pervasive use of online smear campaigns has created a suffocating atmosphere of fear that extends far beyond those directly targeted. It’s a subtle chilling effect, discouraging ordinary citizens from speaking out, joining protests, or even associating with civil society groups. As one journalist lamented to Amnesty, “This is dangerous for all of us. If we all become afraid of being labelled ‘foreign agents’ and stop reporting news or any stories critical of the government, then we are back to the authoritarian atmosphere of the past.” What’s particularly concerning is that Indonesia’s own laws, instead of protecting these individuals, are often weaponized against them. There’s even a proposed new law on ‘Countering Disinformation and Foreign Propaganda’ that threatens to further empower the government to silence dissent, pushing Indonesia further down an authoritarian path. Callamard rightly points out the systemic failure: “Instead of upholding fundamental rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, Indonesian authorities have failed at every level: state actors participate in the attacks, victims are denied protection and a climate of intimidation is allowed to take hold.”
The responsibility for this alarming situation also extends to the doorstep of the massive tech companies that host these platforms. Meta, TikTok, X, and YouTube are not merely neutral conduits for information; their inadequate content moderation, algorithms designed to prioritize engagement, and a seeming disregard for heightened human rights risks in places like Indonesia have allowed this dangerous disinformation to spread like wildfire. The report found that many of these documented harmful posts remained online for months, some for over a year, often going viral and reaching vast audiences before any action was taken, if at all. Callamard emphasizes: “Big Tech’s failures have contributed to the human rights harms documented in this report, with falsehoods spreading faster than facts. Their platforms have played a significant role in enabling an environment in which disinformation, censorship and violence can thrive.” Despite Amnesty International reaching out to all these companies with their findings, only TikTok even bothered to respond, promising to “set up additional monitoring for this specific issue”—a promise that feels woefully insufficient given the scale of the problem.
Despite the grim picture painted by the report, there’s a powerful undercurrent of resilience among the activists facing this onslaught. They continue to adapt, support each other, and resist the intimidation. However, as Callamard rightly asserts, the burden of fighting disinformation cannot rest solely on their shoulders. In this increasingly hostile environment under President Prabowo’s administration, there’s an urgent call to action. Meta, TikTok, X, and YouTube must step up. They need to drastically improve their content moderation, conduct genuine human rights assessments specifically tailored to Indonesia’s context, and provide real remedies for those who have been harmed by their platforms’ failures. Ultimately, the future of free expression and democratic space in Indonesia hinges on both the government choosing to protect its citizens’ rights and the tech giants taking genuine responsibility for the content they amplify. It’s a plea to end these disinformation attacks and to defend the fundamental right of Indonesian activists to speak out.