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Countering online radicalization among overseas diaspora
Radical groups like Jamaah Islamiyah, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, and Islamic State have launched systematic propaganda, fundraising, recruitment and terror attacks with support from their global network, including in Indonesia.
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Police display evidence following a terrorist raid at Astina village, Torue sub district, in Central Sulawesi on September 19, 2021. (AFP/MUHAMMAD RIFKI)
O
ne of Indonesia's priorities during its Group of 20 presidency is promoting the "digital transformation". In this aspect, Indonesia aims to improve digital literacy and capabilities, hoping that inclusive digitalization will spread to all sectors.
This is a crucial policy, considering that Indonesia has a “double face” and is often contradictory in taking on the digital world.
The first face of Indonesia is that Indonesia is at the forefront of digital experiences in Southeast Asia. According to VMWare, Indonesian digital experience reached 78 percent, surpassing the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
However, the other face is that Indonesian netizens are the most impolite in Southeast Asia, based on a Microsoft survey in 2021. In other words, despite the high rate of digital access and usage in Indonesia, understanding of digital literacy is lacking. This is in line with the finding that Indonesia was among the countries with the highest cybercrime rates in the world in 2015.
One of those crimes is terrorist activity.
While Indonesia's G20 presidency focuses on the economic aspects, the impact of digital radicalization on the economy and other sectors will be profound if left unaddressed. Indonesia's National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) reported that until 2021 online radicalization had shown an upward trend.
In 2021, the BNPT found more than 600 sites or accounts with radical content. There were 650 propaganda postings, 409 postings on terror attacks, 147 anti-nationalism postings, 40 items about financing, 13 about training, seven postings promoting intolerance and two on takfiri (accusing others of committing apostasy). All the sites have been taken down.
