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AJI urges police to investigate alleged intimidation, doxing of Detik journalist
“The journalist’s personal information has been spread through social media like Facebook and YouTube to be used in a campaign of harassment against him,” said Asnil Bambani, chairman of the Jakarta Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
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The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has urged the police to investigate the alleged doxing (dissemination of personal information) and intimidation of a journalist working for popular news outlet Detik.com following his report on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to monitor “new normal” preparation measures in malls in Bekasi, West Java. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has urged the police to investigate the alleged doxing (dissemination of personal information) and intimidation of a journalist working for popular news outlet Detik.com following his report on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to monitor “new normal” preparation measures in malls in Bekasi, West Java.
“We demand the police investigate the alleged crime of doxing and threats of violence and murder against the journalist until the perpetrators are brought to court,” AJI Jakarta chairman Asnil Bambani and AJI Jakarta advocacy team head Erick Tanjung said in a joint statement on Thursday.
The harassment was apparently inspired by an article titled “Jokowi to lead the opening of several malls in Bekasi this afternoon amid pandemic” published by Detik.com on Tuesday.
Asnil said the journalist obtained all of the information from the Bekasi administration’s head of external publication.
Read also: Attacks on journalists increase in 2019 with rise in doxing, cyberattacks: LBH Pers
The information was then corrected by a Bekasi administration spokesperson who said that the President had gone only to inspect public facilities in Bekasi as part of the country’s preparation for the implementation of the so-called “new normal”.
A few hours after the first article was published, Detik.com published another article titled “Bekasi administration clarifies Jokowi’s visit: To inspect new normal readiness”.
“The journalist’s personal information has been spread through social media like Facebook and YouTube to be used in a campaign of harassment against him,” Asnil said.
According to the AJI, a social media account under the name Salman Faris published screenshots of the journalist’s work.
“He has been harassing the journalist about unrelated things,” he added.
In addition to online harassment, Asnil said, the journalist also received food deliveries that he did not order and a death threat from an unknown person through a WhatsApp message.
In the written statement, the AJI asked the Press Council to become actively involved in addressing harassment cases against journalists.
“We call on society to be proactive in maintaining the freedom of the press. If there is any dispute regarding news articles, people can report them and ask for liability rights from the Press Council,” Asnil said.
According to the AJI, three doxing cases against journalists were reported in 2018.
“So far, no case of journalist doxing has been solved by the police or law enforcement,” he added.
