The think tank’s Freedom on the Net 2020 report gives Indonesia an overall score of 49 on a scale of 0 to 100, classifying the country's internet freedom rank as “partly free” – a slight dip from last year’s overall rating of 51 and 54 in 2018.

The study noted that the government had taken authoritarian measures to stifle dissent across online platforms during a number of critical events taking place between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020.

Among the most drastic of such measures was the government-imposed internet restriction during a series of anti-racism protests in Papua and West Papua in August and September last year, under the pretext of curbing the spread of “misinformation” surrounding the civil unrest.

The internet blackout was later deemed unlawful by the Jakarta State Administrative Court as the policy was considered to be flawed in authority, substance and procedure.

Furthermore, Freedom House also found that state agents had actively cracked down on online discourse considered to have contradicted the values espoused by the government.

“Critics of the government, journalists and ordinary users continued to face criminal charges and harassment in retaliation for their online activity,” the report reads.

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