Around 14:00 PM Western Indonesia Time (GMT +7) today, social medias such, as Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp, have been restricted in some areas by Indonesian government in order to curb hoax from spreading following the presidential election result announcement on 21st and the riot on 22nd in Jakarta. According to CNBC, the restriction will last until 25th May. This is the first social media censorship I've ever personally experienced, the like which I think most of Indonesians have never seen before.
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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash |
According to bbc.com and detik.com, at least 6 people had lost theirs lives and 200 people were injured after clashing with police this morning. This kind of bloody political crisis is not something unfamiliar for those of us Indonesians who were born before 90s. The similar build up, the atmosphere and events leading up to it, I think people had right to be worried that the '98 riot could have been repeated today. A lot of shady stuffs were going on, such as the movement of the masses and the provocations, the burning of Police vehicles, also the arrest of a high profile ex-military man. A lot of disinformation and irresponsible info were also spreading, which added fuel to the fire.
Based on Indonesian chief security minister statement, there was a strong indication that there were elements which desired to pit the two presidential candidate supporters and to pit the people with the police and armed forces as well. I personally think that the statement is true, because Prabowo-Sandi side had already decided to challenge the incumbent, Jokowi-Ma'ruf, in constitutional court so the opposition supporters should just disperse peacefully. There's also no reason for incumbent to cause riot when they have already won it all. So the big question is who should ultimately be held responsible? People are angry but it's stupid to spill blood over this.
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It will be a complicated work for the police to arrests those who are really responsible, since there is a fear from opposition that the incumbent might use the event to prosecute the political opponents. I think that the police should be really open about the case, especially about the riot where police was accused of using deadly force to disperse the crowd, the existence of alleged paid protesters and armed rioters. It would be worrisome if there's a mole inside the police who were deliberately ignored the order, and it would also be bad if the opposition used the tragedy as a mean to create a martyr figure to justify the cause or if the protest had been hijacked by irresponsible people who want to create chaos. A lot of uncertainty is going on right now.
What do I personally think about today's event? First of all about the social media blackout, I think it was necessary. I live far away from the capital but I still got affected, I couldn't use Whatsapp which is my main mean of communication. It's been troublesome but still understandable, it's not like that the government shut down news outlet as well. Disinformation or hoax can be really dangerous in time of crisis like today, a little reminiscent to Arab Spring or Russia's interference in America election. Many Indonesians are still too single minded when it come to sharing information, many don't bother to check the truth. Moreover, Indonesia consists of hundreds of ethnicity, multi-religions, and tens of political parties, it will be easy to spread disinformation to pitch each other. Some people sow discords, creating chaos, to climb up higher, frankly it's disgusting.
Secondly, I urge the police to bring justice for those who are responsible as soon as possible, no exception whether it's the opposition, incumbent, its own member or other dangerous elements. I hope that this case would be open to public, unlike the '98 riot. And lastly, I call all Indonesian to prioritise unity and to recheck every information, especially if it's related with today's matter. I insist that political leaders of both side to step forward and to give statements related to the event. It has been a critical day for our country, a bleak and scary potential but we will survive this.
For those of you who are curious about the details of the event, please go check reputable news source such as BBC, detik, The Jakarta Post or kompas.
Peace.