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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Culture & Society

Safenet Reveals Digital Censorship Tactics Amidst Renewed Repression

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Safenet's Executive Director Nenden Sekar Arum detailed digital censorship tactics against media and the public in 2025.
  • These tactics include online threats, doxing, DDoS attacks, account suspensions, and algorithmic manipulation like shadow banning.
  • The report,

Digital censorship tactics against media and the public are evolving, according to Nenden Sekar Arum, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (Safenet). In a discussion marking the anniversary of media bans in Indonesia, Arum presented findings from Safenet's 2025 digital rights report, titled "Orba is Back, Repression Never Left."

From the 2025 trend, digital repression has mutated.

— Nenden Sekar ArumNenden Sekar Arum, Executive Director of Safenet, describing the evolving nature of digital attacks against media and the public.

Arum described digital censorship as an effort to control information flow and silence critical voices. She noted a mutation in digital attacks, stating, "From the 2025 trend, digital repression has mutated." These attacks begin with online threats, demanding content removal under threat of legal action using the Information and Electronic Transactions Law (ITE).

Following these warnings, perpetrators engage in doxing, the unauthorized dissemination of personal information. The next stage involves direct digital censorship, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting media websites or account suspensions, which typically affect critical individuals. Algorithmic censorship, including shadow banning and reduced content visibility, is another method. Arum cited instances where content that previously garnered millions of views suddenly dropped to only a few hundred.

I am from this unit, please delete content A, content B. If not, we will prosecute you under the ITE Law.

— Nenden Sekar ArumNenden Sekar Arum explaining the initial online threats victims receive before further digital censorship.

Regulatory measures also contribute to digital censorship. Arum pointed to the mandatory registration of Electronic System Providers (PSE) for media outlets. This registration subjects media to PSE regulations, allowing the government to revoke licenses for content deemed dangerous. "When the registration evidence is deleted by Kominfo, they might not be able to operate. So, it's also a form of censorship," she explained.

Usually experienced by critical communities.

— Nenden Sekar ArumNenden Sekar Arum describing who typically faces account suspensions as a form of digital censorship.

The discussion, held at TV Tempo Studio in South Jakarta on Monday, June 22, 2026, commemorated the fight against the banning of Tempo magazine, Editor, and Detik in 1994. The event also featured insights from Tempo Media Group's CEO Arif Zulkifli, Tempo's Editor-in-Chief Setri Yasra, and other media and human rights advocates.

Usually up to millions. But suddenly the content only gets 100 or 200 views.

— Nenden Sekar ArumNenden Sekar Arum illustrating the impact of algorithmic censorship, such as shadow banning, on content visibility.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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