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View all search resultsPress freedom under strain as journalists face more threats
At least 89 cases of violence against journalists were recorded by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in 2025, with police and military personnel identified among the top three perpetrators of such cases.
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Journalists hold banners during a protest on May 2, 2025, to commemorate World Press Freedom Day in Surabaya, East Java. The protest, organized by the Surabaya chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Surabaya) and other civic groups, condemned intimidation and violence against journalists. (Antara/Didik Suhartono)
T
he Indonesian press is struggling as journalists face escalating violence, intimidation and threats of widespread layoffs, amid what press groups call “rising authoritarianism” in the country that is undermining press freedom and sustainability.
At least 89 cases of violence against journalists were recorded throughout 2025, including 30 physical assaults and 29 digital attacks, according to the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in its annual report. Other cases included coverage bans, forced data deletion, lawsuits and censorship.
Most cases involved unidentified perpetrators, but AJI highlighted that during the first full year of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, police were the second most frequently alleged perpetrators in 21 cases, followed by the military with six incidents.
The press freedom in the country is facing “strengthening authoritarian statism”, AJI said, which is marked by power consolidation, close ties between media and political elites and the use of legal instruments against the press.
“Intervention and intimidation in the newsrooms have increased and become normalized,” said AJI chair Nany Afrida at the report’s launch webinar on Wednesday.
“These interventions coming from the circles of power include demands to take down news reports and pressure not to report on certain issues,” she continued.
