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View all search resultsExplainer: Social media as town square, battleground in Indonesia’s protests
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A female student holds a poster listing demands during a protest on Sept. 9 in front of the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. The action was carried out to advocate for the 17+8 People’s Demands reform framework. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
F
rom viral videos of a young man’s death to the rise of green and pink protest symbols, social media has emerged as the frontline in Indonesia’s recent nationwide demonstrations, amplifying calls for reform and exposing growing distrust in state authority.
What began in late August as student- and labor-led protests over lawmakers’ lavish allowances and growing economic inequality reached a tragic turning point on Aug. 28, when online motorcycle taxi (ojol) driver Affan Kurniawan, 21, was fatally run over by a police vehicle during a demonstration near the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.
Footage of the incident quickly spread like wildfire across social media platforms afterwards, igniting public outrage and triggering renewed calls for streets in protest against police brutality.
Rizal Nova Mujahid of big data consultancy Drone Emprit said content surrounding Affan’s death went viral on an unprecedented scale, drawing nearly 10 billion interactions within just 12 hours.
By comparison, a viral post last August that fueled mass demonstrations, an image of the Garuda Pancasila on a blue background stamped with the words ‘Peringatan Darurat’ (emergency warning), took a full week to reach the same level of engagement.
“I haven’t seen any content generate interaction on this scale. It’s no surprise it triggered demonstrations as massive as those we witnessed last week,” Rizal said on Wednesday.
Read also: President reshuffles cabinet after weeklong protest, replacing Sri Mulyani
