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View all search resultsExplainer: Why small protests are drawing outsized attention on social media
Unlike prior mass protests, recent rallies have been smaller in scale and more sporadic, leading some social media users to question why they appear to receive relatively little coverage from news outlets.
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Protesters from the Islamic Unity Students Association (PP HIMA PERSIS) stage a demonstration outside the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta on August 4, 2026. The students demand the AGO to transfer its money laundering investigation into former prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and urge policymakers to pass an asset forfeiture law. (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
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mid the barrage of troubling headlines over Indonesia’s political and economic developments, demonstrations have become a familiar sight across social media timelines.
Yet unlike prior mass protests, recent rallies have been smaller in scale and more sporadic, leading some social media users to question why they appear to receive relatively little coverage from news outlets.
In Jakarta, protests have taken place several times outside the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the Constitutional Court since last month, driven by issues ranging from doubts on the AGO’s independence in a money laundering probe into its own ex-prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah to concerns over funding for the government’s costly free nutritious meal program.
Meanwhile, journalists in Yogyakarta and Greater Malang, East Java, staged protests on July 26 and 27, respectively, condemning President Prabowo Subianto’s londo ireng or “black Dutchmen” remark, a label which press groups deemed denigrating to journalists.
As recently as Monday, the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) and students gathered across Papua’s capital Jayapura to protest against what they deemed as growing militarism on the easternmost island.
However, these protests were relatively small compared to the one in late August 2025, which saw thousands of people nationwide protesting against lawmakers’ lavish allowances amid economic grievances and police brutality. They also pale in comparison to the protest in June of this year, where hundreds of students protested the government’s “misplaced” spending priorities amid a weakening rupiah.
The recent smaller protests have nonetheless prompted heightened security precautions, with shopping malls such as Kota Kasablanka in South Jakarta and Pakuwon in Bekasi, West Java, erecting around 3-meter-tall perimeter fences in recent weeks. The fences were removed this weekend.
