The Power of Indonesian Netizens and the Digital World

Indonesia has an estimated 202.6 million internet users. This figure makes Indonesia one of the countries with the largest number of internet users in the world. It is therefore no surprise that Indonesian netizens wield significant influence in various contexts, and as the digital world continues to evolve, even everyday life issues can go viral. Not to mention a survey by Microsoft regarding Internet User Civility in 2020. In a report titled the Digital Civility Index (DCI), Indonesia ranked 29th out of 32 countries. Wow, it turns out Indonesia has the lowest ranking in Southeast Asia.

Here are 5 examples ranging from cases in sports and technology to other issues, as highlighted by Media Buffet PR:

The Power of Indonesian Netizens

Netizens’ Fingers Take Down an Instagram Account

The outcry from Badminton Lovers—often referred to as BL—flooded the Instagram accounts of the All England and the BWF, garnering widespread support. It’s no wonder: netizens were outraged by the incident in which the Indonesian badminton team was forced to withdraw from the All England tournament. British health authorities reportedly ordered the Indonesian team to self-isolate after they were on the same flight as a passenger infected with COVID-19. It didn’t take long—the flood of comments from Indonesian netizens is believed to have caused the BWF’s Instagram comments section to be temporarily closed. In fact, to make matters worse, the All England’s official Instagram account disappeared. You can imagine just how overwhelmed they were by the flood of comments from Indonesian netizens.

It Only Took 24 Hours

Recently, the social media world was abuzz with the story of a young boy who was finally found after being missing for 5 years. It all started when his older brother, Nathan, posted a photo of his younger brother with the caption “Twitter, please do your magic,” hoping netizens could help find him. He had previously tried reporting the disappearance to the police, but to no avail. It took just 24 hours for Nathan to find his younger brother thanks to a man named Puji Setiawan, who commented and posted a photo of a boy resembling Nathan’s younger brother, Yehezkiel. The power of the digital world truly turned sorrow into joy. Finally…

Wrong Target

Now shifting to the backlash against the peer-to-peer lending fintech startup Restock.id. It all started with the founder and CEO going viral for pointing a gun during an altercation with an online motorcycle taxi (ojol) driver. His actions prompted netizens to target the Restock app on the Google Play Store by giving it one-star ratings and posting negative reviews. However, upon further investigation, it turned out that Indonesian netizens had mistakenly targeted a different Restock app—one developed by a foreign startup—specifically a household budget calculator app. Wow, that’s what you call targeting the wrong app, right, Mom?

A Movement Sparked by Netizens’ Criticism Five months ago, a case involving a dump truck crashing into a house in the Kampung Melayu area of Tangerang caught netizens’ attention. The reason was that netizens uploaded the video online and complained that the presence of these trucks was endangering their lives. On sunny days, dust flies everywhere, as if they were taking a “dust bath.” Meanwhile, during the rainy season, the roads become slippery due to clay spilling onto the streets. The Tangerang Transportation Department then took action to conduct patrols, and netizens expected the issue to be resolved within three days.

Yielding to Netizens’ Pressure A video showing police violence against a civilian has gone viral among Indonesian netizens. A college student was thrown to the ground by a police officer while staging a protest in front of the Tangerang Regent’s office in Banten. The 48-second video shows a police officer throwing the student who was participating in the demonstration to the ground. In fact, after the incident, the officer—wearing a dark uniform—disappeared, leaving the victim behind. Netizens then flooded social media, pressuring the police to bring the officer responsible for the violence forward to provide a clarification. Eventually, the officer issued an apology in a video that circulated on Twitter.

Several examples of incidents resulting from the power of netizens and the evolution of the digital world truly leave us shaking our heads in disbelief. It’s certainly possible that Indonesian netizens need to take advantage of the increasingly developed digital world. On the other hand, Indonesian netizens aren’t always portrayed negatively; in fact, on several occasions, they’ve proven to be a source of help.

Written by Ajeng Dwi Wardani, Public Relations Intern at Media Buffet PR