Opinion

By Ramita Paraswati

The recent wave of cancel culture in Indonesia, particularly in the form of hashtags to cancel celebrities deemed politically sympathetic, is more than a web trend. It is an indication of rising political consciousness, one that challenges mainstream discourses and questions whose voice counts and for whom. Taking Eve Ng’s (2022) definition, cancel culture is both an act of targeted cancellation and a broad public discourse of outrage. But it is also a digital mode of resistance whose meanings, if interpreted through feminist lenses, reveal the gendered dynamics of voice, influence, and state loyalty in the public sphere in Indonesia.

Gendered Dimensions of Cancellation

Cancel culture has existed in different forms across contexts. Celebrities in South Korea are “cancelled” for off, duty misbehaviour, drunk driving (e.g., Kim Sae ron) to sex scandals with underage women. These are framed as moral deficits. Celebrities in Indonesia are cancelled for politics, primarily for being on the side of the ruling elite, such as recent controversies over the Military Law (UU TNI). They were criticized like Raffi Ahmad, whereas some of them like Prilly Latuconsina, Reza Arap, and Nessi Judge have avoided being politically involved at all.

This divergence suggests the way cancellation in Indonesia operates not because of moral or legal violations, but because of proximity to power, state power. From a feminist perspective, this raises significant questions: Whose voice is amplified? Whose silence is replaced? And whose alignment with power is unacceptable?

Psychologically, cancel culture impacts public figures in complex manners. Vincent Adeyemi (2025) recognizes that the targeted individuals end up facing anxiety, social exclusion, and self,censorship. For women in particular, these consequences are compounded by patriarchal judgment. Women public figures are often judged not only for their political stance but also for representing femininity, nationalism, and morality. In such a context, cancel culture impacts women influencers more disproportionately who participate in both political affinity and gendered expectations.

Materially, celebrities, and especially women celebrities, suffer decreasing brand interactions and lost endorsements. While Indonesia is not as financially strapped as South Korea, with regard to cancelling contracts, economic reprisal remains a gendered silencing device.

Cancel Culture as Feminist Political Critique

Indonesian cancel culture has become a bottom-up political critique, a form of resisting state co-optation of celebrity influence. Initially noted during the 2024 presidential election as part of online campaign strategies, the practice now targets celebrities who are seen as state allies. The phenomenon is indicative not just of the campaigning element but also of frustration at the shrinking space for critical debate and increasing state capture of popular media.

Under feminist analysis, cancel culture is then a form of opposition, best utilized in the spaces where classical political participation is limited. Cancel culture disrupts the gendered hierarchy of speaking for the people, offering a type of criticism in which citizens, particularly young women and online feminist communities, can challenge hegemonic political identifications.

Structural Barriers to Feminist Digital Activism

However, cancel culture’s success as political opposition is circumscribed by the sociopolitical context of Indonesia. The ideological diversity of the country and political illiteracy weakened the unity of the movement. Furthermore, the lack of feminist political education leaves little space for the public to contest the gendered dynamic of celebrity, state relations or separate real activism from paid endorsements.

Goodwin et al. (2023) highlight the influencer’s ability to shape the discourse. Without transparency in state influencer relations and without feminist analysis, however, cancel culture is in danger of being an echo chamber instead of a force for change.

Toward a Feminist Future of Accountability

For cancel culture to be an effective feminist political instrument, Indonesia must appreciate inclusive political education and digital literacy. These efforts must focus on the voices of marginalized groups, particularly women and youth, whose opposition is repeatedly erased or downplayed.

Although Indonesian celebrities will not face career-wrecking sanctions like their South Korean counterparts, the growing willingness of the public, especially young women who are internet-literate, to challenge relations of power is a shift in public opinion. Whether this shift leads to institutional change or more gender justice is a matter of how well feminist challenges are woven into public opinion.

In the end, Indonesia’s cancel culture is not so much about blocking celebrities. It is about envisioning differently whose voice is heard, whose silence is interpreted as complicity, and whose power can be called to account—beyond a patriarchal democracy that worships celebrities.

A ransomware attack on Indonesia’s National Data Centre (PDN = Pusat Data Nasional) reveals significant vulnerabilities in Indonesia’s digital security. The attacks influenced more than 200 government institutions including the immigration systems and education sectors. It encountered bottlenecks in the checkpoints and disrupted student enrolment. 

Unfortunately, the bulk of data has not been backed up yet. However, the government estimates that full restoration will be completed by the end of 2024. This long maintenance calls the need to improve infrastructures and resources. 

According to the MIT Technology Review which examines four categories -critical infrastructure, cybersecurity resources, organizational capacity, and policy commitment-, Indonesia was the last ranking among the world’s 20 largest in the Cyber Defense Index 2022/2023. 

The Weakness of the Indonesian Government in Digital Data Protection

The government websites well known have weak digital data protection, therefore Teguh, ethical hacker, mentions that children who learn to hack often use government websites as their testing ground.

The weakness of these websites can be seen in the last three years. Numerous government websites have detected “intrusions.” From early 2022 to February 2023, the Director-General of Informatics Applications at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Ditjen APTIKA Kominfo), Samuel Abrijani, stated that 683 government websites had been infiltrated by online gambling. Of these, 461 were affiliated with the go.id domain and 222 with the ac.id domain. These numbers have increased over time. 

By September 6, 2023, gambling content had infiltrated 9,052 government websites, meaning that in approximately six months, 8,369 sites were hacked. Additionally, a hacker named Bjorka caused significant concern for the Indonesian government by successfully breaching government data, including 150 million Indonesian population data, 1.3 billion SIM card users, and secret letters from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to President Jokowi.

In 2024, Kominfo urged government agencies to migrate to the National Semesta Data Center (PDNS), which is envisioned as Indonesia’s cybersecurity cornerstone. Unfortunately, the migration of government websites to PDNS has not been accompanied by adequate digital security preparedness. 

Consequently, the integrated data becomes an easy target for hackers seeking significant gains. These hackers see a jackpot potential in the Indonesian government’s negligence. This situation also indicates that the IT human resources, particularly those related to cybersecurity responsible for securing government websites, are of low quality.

There are three motives behind the hacking of government websites:

Firstly, economic motives: hackers seek to gain financial benefit through ransom from the government. In the case of PDN, the hacker requires an amount of around  AUD12.3 million. Although the government refuses to pay and focuses on maintenance of the systems. 

Secondly, educational motives: due to the perceived weaknesses of government websites, IT learners exploit them for experimentation. Although it is worth noting that hacking government websites is never justified, it would be better if they informed the cybersecurity staff about the vulnerabilities and ways to enhance security. The responsible government should also be open to accepting such feedback. 

Thirdly, political motives: the prevalence of gambling sites indicates that hackers aim to damage the government’s reputation through its websites.

Comprehensive Approach to Secure Digital Data

To address these issues, the government must take a comprehensive approach for three reasons. Firstly, the government must regain access to PDNS. Secondly, the government must enhance IT human resources, particularly those skilled in cybersecurity. Thirdly, the government should develop alternative strategies for data storage and management backups.

The government can take several steps: conducting thorough security audits of the PDNS system, providing cybersecurity training to IT staff at both central and regional levels, improving cybersecurity-related infrastructure, both software and hardware, regularly updating data security systems with the latest security measures, establishing policies for data breach mitigation plans (this policy should be implemented across all government domains), and collaborating with external parties to enhance data security. 

The Flaw of Implementing PDP Law

Despite the need of the Indonesian government to take necessary measures to secure their digital security, the PDNS systems also reveal the weakness of Indonesian digital security regulations. In 2022, Indonesia passed the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Law. Under this law, the government can impose sanctions on companies which fail to protect their customers’ data. However, the government itself is the actor who cannot protect the personal data of its citizens. 

The Call of Digital Literacy

In doing so, each citizen also needs to understand how to protect their personal data. Indonesia Digital Literacy Report 2022 revealed that only half of the respondents illustrated as having a good literacy in personal data protection. This depicts that overall Indonesians still lack understanding of private data protection. 

This situation reinforces the government to advance the resources and infrastructure in digital protection while improving citizen’s awareness to protect their own personal data. By doing this, the Indonesian government might have a good start to implement the PDP Law, otherwise, the government might end up being a hackers testing ground.

Authors:

Ramita Paraswati  (Alumni, Master of Political Science, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia ; Founder, Indonesia, Women, Peace, and Security Centre)

Amsa Nadzifah (Master of Development Studies, University of Melbourne; Founder of Yayasan Literasi Desa Tumbuh)

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Albert Einstein

A footage video depicts a food crisis in Palestine. Palestinians, young and adults, desperately scrambled for food. They wait for a long time to attain a piece of bread and find it hard to escape from famine at the moment. So, this situation elucidates how war drives catastrophic human issues, especially food issues in this era.

On the other world spectrum, after winning an election, Vladimir Putin, in his speech, warned of a full-scale World War 3 if there is a confrontation between Russia and NATO. Obviously, this is not only an alert lamp for opponents but also for the global society. As we saw the previous year, the food trade has been in trouble since the Ukraine-Russia conflict, especially for wheat commodities. Additionally, the more and more countries engage in the war, particularly from the western states, the more crop products will suffer in international shipping and trading.  To some extent, Russia’s position as the most fertilizer producer cannot be neglected. By distracting fertilization product transactions will play a crucial role in spiking food costs. Consequently, the global food crisis would appear unavoidable if the conflict escalated into a world war.

Not only stop there, but the crisis relating to dietary may also be worsened because of environmental issues. As Lester Brown explanation, First and foremost is global warming. Many agriculture failures happen, and crop uncertainties threaten farmers everywhere. The direct impact of it could be the uncontrollable price in the market. Thus, an unstable food supply is waiting to be involved in the calamity. Secondly, land degradation seems to be extremely affecting the agricultural sector, as is deforestation. This action reduces green areas and biodiversity and increases the greenhouse effect. It also eliminates the land for natural crops. Thirdly, misconduct in land management should be considered, particularly when utilizing inorganic fertilizer. Scientific investigations explained chemical fertilizers can produce nutrient imbalances, raise pest resistance, and cause groundwater contamination. Subsequently, the harvest results may significantly decrease. So, it should be borne in mind that the food crisis cannot be separated from the environmental problem.

Further, the other factors might contribute to strengthening the food crisis. In terms of policy, Derril D Watson suggests inappropriate agricultural mechanisms perhaps weaken food security. For example, the case of Indonesia’s failure in the food estate program was unable to boost the diet shortage. Yet, proposes a more devastating crisis for local inhabitants. From the dependency perspective, Bayu Mitra Adhyatma Kusuma and Theresua Octastefani argue that a policy on expanding imported products also takes a vital role in erecting an ineffective agenda to face the food crisis. This strategy may only benefit several communities that engage in trade, but not for most people, particularly farmer prosperity. Moreover, this way is probably effective in coping with short-term solutions but not for long-term projects. Henceforth, the authority’s unsuccessful initiative may make food predicaments more unsatisfactory.

For those reasons, it may be fair-minded for Einstein to state that in the future, probably the weapons are sticks and stones. It would be sensible since the people may scramble for food with neighbors, not state-to-state war anymore.

However, some strategies can be implemented to minimize the nourishment setback. Firstly, by strengthening local diet habits. As we know, every nation has its staple foods, such as Asian with rice and Western with bread. For a state that has a diverse culture might have many varieties of diets like sago, potato, corn, or cassava. The government should support the indigenous society to consume it rather than force them to eat other substances such as rice. Notably, the locals definitely understand how to plant, manage, and cook their native food. Thus, this indigenous value can be a crucial capital for food security.

Secondly, the public may need intensive education to produce, manage, and store ingredients. This is a strategic way to minimize the effect of uncertainty in the food supply due to climate change or world tragedies like war or pandemics. A good example is Koreans, who are able to manage and store their traditional food like kimchi or soy paste for a long period. In addition, the authority can develop collaboration and support the filmmaker or content creator to produce slow-living content that illustrates planting, cooking, and storing food effectively. Some channels that show this technique are A Nation of Kimchi and Kampung Halaman Official. Consequently, this method could save society from suffering in critical times.

Thirdly, in terms of personal aspects, it may be crucial to introduce a frugal living habit to prevent food waste. This behavior style might inspire individuals to eat as they need, not as they want. This perspective could also reduce the global wasted food statistic, which reaches around 40% or 2.5 billion tons annually. Hopefully, promoting such a good habit can help us escape food suffering in the future.

Fourthly, strengthening strategic cooperation with other countries. This kind of joint action would be advantageous for the members to look for a collective solution to the food crisis. For instance, Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and Australia (MIKTA) can work together to mitigate diet problems by holding a food security panel and discussing gastronomy program. By doing this partnership, collaborative action can be defined together to solve future food uncertainty and positioning to implement gastro diplomacy or gastro-politics in multilateral cooperation.

Fifthly, it should be crucial to note women’s and young people’s contribution to the food security issue. Women can play an important role in managing their family’s diet concerns and teach a traditional way to manage their food. Derica A. Kotze also proposes an argument that women’s contribution to food production and food security should be recognized in policy to promote agricultural development. Following this, Dario Piselli argues that youth skills are required to increase food sustainability opportunity development through technology or other innovations. The young generation should also learn about the food ingredient varieties and how to cook and plant them, especially the endemic food materials like vegetables and fruits surrounding them. It also can be beneficial to minimize instant or junk food consumption that harms health. So, everyone and the next generation will have enough knowledge of food security.

In conclusion, food security is a vital issue for humankind. It does not discuss state interest but has been essential for human sustainability. Hence, preparing and creating a holistic strategic plan to reduce its detrimental effects is crucial.

Written by Ramita Paraswati

When campuses become the last bulwark of democracy, will the government stand idly by?

Jokowi’s drama alleged intervention in the 2024 elections in Indonesia draws out the tensions of the nepotism democracy conflict. First, the alleged intervention in the amendment of Article 169 letter q of Law No. 7/2017 on the minimum age limit of vice-presidential candidates, which states that “he/she is at least 40 (forty) years old or has/is currently holding an office elected through general elections including regional head elections”. With this change, the president’s son, Gibran Rakabumi, as mayor of Solo, can become the vice-presidential candidate of presidential candidate no. 2 Prabowo Subianto. In addition, this decision was facilitated by the position of the chairman of Indonesia’s constitutional court and Jokowi’s brother-in-law. Allegations of political oligarchy have surfaced and become an essential discussion in Indonesian politics.

Second, President Jokowi’s statement that the president may campaign and take sides in a press conference at Bogor Palace on January 26, 2024. The president argued that this was stipulated in Law Number 7 of 2017 Article 299. Of course, Jokowi’s statement added to the 2024 election intervention polemic drama. According to an expert in constitutional law at the Indonesian College of Law, Jantera Bivitri argued that the statement led to misleading information. This is because Article 299 has three paragraphs that must be linked following the norms of grouping and structuring the order. Then, there are additional conditions that should be underscored in the article, which are being a presidential or vice-presidential candidate, being a campaign team that has been registered with the General Election Commission (KPU), and campaign executors who have been registered with the KPU. she also noted that the relationship between the president and candidate number 2 is not electoral but a family relationship, where there is no single law that accommodates the relationship. Next, the parties that support Jokowi and candidate number 2 are also different. So, Jokowi cannot fulfill these conditions. From this second point, it can be concluded that Jokowi has played with the state constitution by cutting the contents of the constitution as a tool to spread malinformation in the 2024 election event.

These two factors have sparked the concerns of the Indonesian people, especially academics, to demand fair and transparent elections. Some of these universities were initiated by Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) on January 31, 2024, followed by several other universities such as Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), Universitas Indonesia (UI), Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), and Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD). This petition wave to the Jokowi administration is also likely to continue to be delivered by several other universities in Indonesia such as Hasanudin University (Unhas), Andalas University (Unad), and possibly followed by other universities. However, will the government be able to hear “the cries” of Indonesian academics about their concerns about the 2024 election conditions? And will this wave of statements bring change to the constituency of Indonesian democracy this year?

Here are some crucial points of the petitions submitted by Indonesian academics at the beginning of this year. First, the Bulaksumur petition from UGM criticized President Jokowi and considered the president to have committed deviant actions in the governance process. In the reading of the petition, led by UGM psychology professor Prof. Drs. Koentjoro, it was also emphasized that Jokowi must uphold the identity of the university that adheres to the values of Pancasila to strengthen democracy by high morals in the formation of a legitimate government for the sake of the lofty ideals contained in the preamble of the 1945 law. In addition, it was also emphasized that as an alumnus of UGM, Jokowi must remember his promise as an alumnus to fulfill his dharma bhakti to the motherland.

Second, the UII petition also highlights the practice of abuse of authority and power for the practical political interests of a group of groups using state resources and the decline of Indonesian democracy. Then, this petition urges the president to be neutral, stop abusing power, and encourage the resignation of the positions of government stakeholders at the ministerial or regional level to avoid conflicts of interest that harm the nation and state. 

Third, the petition “Drum UI beats back” from UI echoes that the elections run honestly and fairly without intimidation, fear, and coercion to win one of the presidential candidates. This petition also emphasizes the corrupt practices carried out by political and legal officials and elites that are increasingly peaking ahead of the election year. Not to forget, this petition also highlights the government’s greed that has led to the extinction of Indonesia’s natural resources. Again, this petition encourages all elements of society to maintain democracy and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). 

Fourth, UMY submitted a petition “Guarding Civilized Indonesian Democracy” by highlighting that the Indonesian president carries out his constitutional obligations for honest and fair elections. The use of state facilities and deviant authority is a serious violation of the Constitution. Demand the neutrality and independence of bureaucratic institutions, the law for the implementation of honest and fair elections. Urging an end to the practice of money politics and abuse of power in elections. Prioritizing the politics of ideas and political education that educates the people and calling on the people to oversee the elections. 

Fifth, “Padjajaran’s call, save the State of Law that is democratic, ethical and dignified” from UNPAD demands the implementation of ethics and legal norms based on Pancasial and the 1945 Constitution. Emphasizing that the president and the political elite should exemplify law and ethics and invite the public to monitor the elections. As well as urging legal suppression of cases of election violations in 2024 to restore democracy with integrity, fairness, transparency, and public trust. 

From these petitions, it can be underlined that the ethics and norms violation of democratic law in elections carried out by the Jokowi government is the main point that triggers the unrest of the academic community. The next point to be highlighted is the call for all elements of society to oversee the election process, which is only 6 days away.

So what is the impact of those petitions? The potential impact of votes from Indonesian universities may be to raise public awareness of significant interference from the Jokowi administration in the 2024 election. In other words, it confirms to the public that Indonesia is currently in a democratic emergency. Political conflicts of interest in the election were not sparked by the polarization of candidate supporters at the grassroots level as in 2014. However, this electoral conflict comes from state government actors who use state resources for the benefit of their power. This includes intervening in the law and using one particular verse to spread malinformation to the public to campaign for his family. 

In addition, this wave of petitions implies the need for massive collective action not only from academics but also from all Indonesian citizens, both bureaucrats and grassroots levels. Bureaucrats may be able to be neutral, independent, and bureaucratic and legal institutions to be transparent and fair for the implementation of peaceful elections. Furthermore, the ethics of high self-integrity is needed from officials who participate as a successful team or presidential candidate either at the ministerial or regional level to resign and to avoid conflicts of interest that harm the nation and state. Then as a civil society, we can participate in maintaining democracy and the Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI) by not accepting money politics and participating in overseeing the election process which will be held on February 14, 2024. Moreover, to avoid political polarization, the community needs to increase political literacy and fact-checking info independently. 

Then, with the increasingly massive wave of campus petitions, it may also encourage the government to carry out election reforms that are honest, fair, and transparent. If the government remains silent, university actors may use their capacity and resources to mobilize the masses to carry out democratic actions, file lawsuits, and boycott elections. So, given this possibility, will the government remain silent and continue to pursue its political interests?

However, one thing that needs to be considered is the possibility of post-election conflict.  As Philips J. Vermonte, Dean of the International Islamic University of Indonesia, predicts, “Whoever wins in the first round will definitely sue the constitutional court.” With this in mind, it is also important for the government to underline how to use the momentum of this petition wave to minimize post-election conflicts as well or leave Indonesia in the throes of more heartbreaking election conflicts.