A newly released report by a global human rights watchdog alleges that Indonesia’s government under President Prabowo Subianto has systematically used coordinated online campaigns to brand activists and journalists as foreign agents.
The 160-page document, titled “Building Up Imaginary Enemies,” examines the first 18 months of the current administration. It claims state and state-linked actors have deployed disinformation to discredit human rights defenders, independent media, and protesters. The report warns that this strategy is entrenching authoritarian practices, continuing a trend that started under the previous president.
Officials reportedly weaponize the “foreign agent” label to suppress dissent and shield themselves from accountability. These allegations, spread through public statements and social media, aim to delegitimize civil society while diverting attention from real grievances.
One case highlighted involves Andrie Yunus, a human rights activist who suffered severe burns in an acid assault in Jakarta. The physical attack came after a year-long online campaign, where a video linked to the president’s political party falsely accused him of being a foreign agent working to weaken the military. Following the assault, anonymous accounts claimed he had staged the attack for foreign funding. An investigation later led to the arrest of four military intelligence officers, tying the security apparatus to the incident.
The report warns that being labeled a foreign agent has legal consequences. Under Indonesia’s newly enforced criminal code, those accused of conspiring with foreign entities to overthrow the government can face up to 10 years in prison.
President Prabowo himself has used the tactic, according to anonymous journalists quoted in the report. “When he cannot explain something, he calls critics foreign agents,” one journalist said. “He is creating imaginary enemies.”
The document outlines four major disinformation campaigns, three of which involved accounts linked to at least 63 military-affiliated entities. These targeted activists opposing military law reforms, participants in the “Indonesia Gelap” protests from early 2025, the media outlet Tempo, and a research institute. The campaigns allegedly used decontextualized references to international partnerships and donor relationships to construct conspiracy claims.
In Tempo’s case, a viral video combined an edited speech by the president with misleading references to the outlet’s funding sources, framing the news organization as a foreign agent without evidence. The video claimed Tempo was a “foreign element wrapped in the mask of media independence.”
The government did not respond to requests for comment on the report’s findings.