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View all search resultsWrong target, wrong response
The government's choice to respond to uncomfortable public statements with police reports and takedown requests only proves the shrinking space for freedom of expression.
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Mutual benefit?: Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto (left) and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya deliver a press statement on Feb. 19, 2026, about the Indonesia-United States Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), in Washington, DC. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
A
senior politician posts a video. The video makes unverified allegations about a presidential aide's personal life. The government moves to suppress it, invoking the specter of hate speech and national division. The aide remains in post, the underlying grievances go unaddressed and the country's shrinking space for political dissent contracts just a little further.
This, in summary, is what happened when Amien Rais, founder of the conservative Ummat Party and a figure who helped dismantle one authoritarian government in 1998, posted an eight-minute YouTube video on April 30 titled "Keep the Palace Free from Moral Scandal". In it, he made allegations about Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya's sexual orientation and called on President Prabowo Subianto to remove him.
The Communications and Digital Ministry swiftly labeled the video a hoax containing slander and hate speech. It was taken down at the government's request and Amien has since been reported to police.
First of all, let us be clear about what The Jakarta Post will and will not say.
We will not amplify unverified allegations about anyone’s personal life. We also note that in a country where the social and legal consequences of such allegations can be severe, using them as political ammunition is itself an act of harm, one that endangers individuals and even entire communities.
Whoever allegedly planted these rumors in Amien’s path and whatever their motivation, the weaponization of a person’s identity is categorically a bludgeon, not criticism.
That said, the government’s response has been at least as troubling as the provocation.
