The latest wave targeted an epidemiologist, an NGO and two media outlets – Tempo and Tirto.id – that have been critical of the way the government has been handling the health crisis.
The situation has gone from bad to worse in recent months, with dozens of activists, journalists and academics critical of the government reportedly falling victim to various cyberattacks. One involves a local punk drummer who peddled a COVID-19 conspiracy theory on his social media accounts, while the other involves a singer-songwriter turned YouTuber who interviewed a fraudulent professor claiming to have produced a cure for the disease. The police are currently investigating two high-profile ITE cases related to the pandemic. The figure is expected to increase this year, now that the National Police is patrolling the internet to nab those accused of spreading “hoaxes” and “hate speech” about the coronavirus. Digital rights and freedom watchdog SAFEnet has said that more and more people have been charged under the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law under the President’s watch, peaking in 2019 with 3,100 cases. Indonesia’s online civic space has, in fact, been shrinking since Jokowi won the presidency in 2014.
0 kommentar(er)
