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View all search resultsPressing for an open society
In recent years, we have seen the civic space shrinking, undermining the quality of democracy. The press can help to stop and reverse the trend.
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Journalists hold banners during a protest to commemorate World Press Freedom Day in Surabaya, East Java, on May 2, 2025. (Antara/Didik Suhartono)
T
oday is National Press Day and so it is a good time for journalists to reflect on what they can do for the country. This year, one important task we can think of, something that requires little effort, is for them to help create the space to ensure there is free flow of information and ideas in the country.
In recent years, we have seen the civic space shrinking, undermining the quality of democracy. If this trend continues, we can forget about democracy, and all the freedoms that come with it. The press can help to stop and reverse this trend.
Critical voices are increasingly being suppressed, evidenced by the arrests of activists, some for organizing protests, others for simply expressing their views online. Journalists of Tempo, one of the few remaining critical media outlets in the country, have been harassed and threatened. Social media has become a powerful tool to bully, harass and threaten anyone who dares to criticize the government.
These few actions have inevitably sent a chilling message to the country about the government’s attitude toward dissent. Intolerance of differences of opinion paves the way to authoritarianism.
President Prabowo Subianto has even labeled students “terrorists” for taking to the streets in August, in protests that turned violent only after the police’s brutal handling of demonstrators. He has repeatedly accused civil society organizations and media outlets that receive funding from overseas of being foreign agents. The security apparatus inevitably takes this as a cue for repressive action.
We are also seeing the military increasingly creeping into internal security matters, which should be the domain of the police. Not that the police are doing a great job, but bringing in the military’s full firepower only makes matters worse.
Our freedoms were already deteriorating before Prabowo took charge in October 2024. Indonesia ranked 127th of 180 countries surveyed for the Press Freedom Index in the Reporters Without Borders 2024 report. Freedom House in its 2024 Freedom Report put Indonesia among the “Partly Free” category, scoring 56 out of 100 for overall freedom and 48/100 for internet freedom. When these institutions publish their 2025 reports later this year, we can only assume that conditions have worsened in Prabowo’s first year in office.
