Internet Freedom Decreases, Indonesia Heads toward Digital Authoritarianism

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

The members of several civil society groups and nongovernmental organizations protest on 23 Aug. 2019 at the Communications and Informatics Ministry in Jakarta. The protesters called on the ministry to restore internet access in Papua and West Papua. The ministry blocked access to the internet in the two provinces in response to public unrest and widespread protests on racial discrimination.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Internet freedom in Indonesia in 2020 decreased from the previous year. Attacks on activists and internet blocking, as well as hacking of the press were contributing factors.

Based on the Freedom on The Net 2020 report published by the think-tank Freedom House last week, Indonesia’s internet freedom ranking decreased from 51st position in 2019 to 49th. Scores are based on a scale of 0 as the least free to 100 as the most free. This shows that Indonesia is still in the category of partly free, where its internet freedom has increasingly declined.

The report states that there were a number of key events that had a significant impact on Indonesia\'s internet freedom. The first incident was an attempt to block the internet network in August and September 2019 in Papua.

Second, the results of a Reuters report on the involvement of military to fund a number of media that support the government\'s agenda while criticizing activists.

Third, the criminal process and imprisonment carried out against journalists. Fourth, intimidation and doxing (disclosure of personal data) against activists. And finally, hacking of activists and media sites that criticize the government\'s mitigation of Covid-19.

"A series of these key findings have caused Indonesia\'s level of freedom to decline," said Sherly Haristya, an Indonesian researcher for the Freedom on The Net 2020 report, in a webinar which was held on Tuesday (20/10/2020) evening.

FREEDOM ON THE NET 2020/arsip freedom house

An infographic displays Indonesia’s score from the Freedom on the Net 2020 report by Freedom House, a nonprofit think tank based in the United States

The webinar titled Alert in Digital Attacks and Cyber Resilience within the Civil Society and Media in Indonesia was held in collaboration with the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (Safenet), Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), Forum-Asia, Amnesty International Indonesia, and the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo).

It had increased by one point in 2018 to 54, but dropped to 51 in 2019 and 49 in 2020.

In general, this means that in the last five years, Indonesia\'s internet freedom has been on a downward trend. In 2016, Indonesia had a higher score, namely 56. In 2017, the score decreased to 53. It had increased by one point in 2018 to 54, but dropped to 51 in 2019 and 49 in 2020.

A lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Airlangga, Herlambang P Wiratraman, said that this condition is worsened by a number of problems.

First, criminalization uses the defamation article. Second, the responsibility of the authorities which is incomplete for protecting the public from digital attacks. Third, selective law enforcement. Fourth, the public space is poisoned due to disinformation and propaganda.

tangkapan layar zoom

Cybersecurity and policy expert Melissa Hathaway of the United States speaks on Tuesday evening (20/10/2020) at a webinar held by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-ASIA), the Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), Amnesty International Indonesia and the Indonesian Anti-Hoax Society.

"This leads to digital authoritarianism because a large portion of the civil society freedom is under attack without any responsibility for protection from the authorities, and meanwhile, the authorities frequently abuse their power to attack the civilian freedom," Herlambang said.

An Indonesia\'s representative at the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Yuyun Wahyuningrum, said that this pattern is not unique to Indonesia. According to her, the pattern of attacks on activists is actually also seen in Southeast Asian countries.

Without mentioning the country, Yuyun confirmed that there have been many incidents of digital assaults against critical activists through soft attacks, such as doxing, account hijacking, to hate speech; and hard attacks, such as media hacking and account hacking.

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Sherly Haristya, the Indonesia in-country researcher of the Freedom on the Net 2020 report, speaks on Tuesday evening (20/10/2020) at a webinar held by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-ASIA), the Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), Amnesty International Indonesia and the Indonesian Anti-Hoax Society (Mafindo).

"Besides leading to silencing, this also creates a climate of fear that makes the public afraid to speak out anything that could be considered criticizing the authorities," said Yuyun.

The final effect, according to Yuyun, is a threat to the democratic system in the country.

Cyber security expert Melissa Hathaway said that the meaning of the internet use is the customer of human rights. According to her, any kind of communication must be considered a private sphere, including online communication.

"The rights that people enjoy offline must also be protected in the online realm. Protection of human rights also covers privacy and personal data of each individual," she said.

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Indonesian representative Yuyun Wahyuningrum of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights speaks on Tuesday evening (20/10/2020) at a webinar held by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-ASIA), the Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), Amnesty International Indonesia and the Indonesian Anti-Hoax Society (Mafindo).

Hathaway in 2007-2009 worked under the 43rd US President George W Bush and the 44th US President Barack Obama on the Cyberspace Policy Review program.

Civil society collaboration

Herlambang said that the government\'s choice to use influencers and buzzers in the public sphere of social media is also feared to have disrupted the democratic process in Indonesia.

"I do not agree with the statement from the Palace that influencers are the front line of democracy. This is dangerous. For democracy, we should prioritize public participation,” said Herlambang.

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Administrative law expert Herlambang P. Wiratraman from Airlangga University speaks on Tuesday evening (20/10/2020) at a webinar held by the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-ASIA), the Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), Amnesty International Indonesia and the Indonesian Anti-Hoax Society (Mafindo).

Public policy researcher Ravio Patra shared a similar view. He also asked civil society groups to be more united in collaborating to counter the narratives constructed by the influencers and buzzers.

We talk much about the danger of buzzers. However, our own voices are not coordinated. We have to make stronger coalitions, strengthen research to find the root of the problems and advocate for the community,” said Ravio.

In April 2020, Ravio was arrested by the police for allegedly spreading provocative cases through the WhatsApp short message service. In fact, Ravio\'s Whatsapp account was hijacked by an unidentified person before the message circulated from his account.

Freedom House in its report specifically underlined achievements of the civil society movement in Indonesia to bring the internet restriction policy by the Indonesian government in Papua to court.

This is a form of strategic litigation that civil society groups around the world need to imitate to counter internet censorship and blocking.