"Linking online and offline: digital media and political processes in Indonesia" - Presentation by Yanuar Nugroho at FoME 2012 Symposium in Berlin. http://forum-medien-entwicklung.de (c) Yanuar Nugroho, 2012 CC 2.0 BY NC (de)

1. Linking
online
and
offline:
Digital
media
and
poli2cal
processes
in
Indonesia
Berlin,
29
–
31
October
2012
Yanuar
Nugroho
Research
Fellow,
University
of
Manchester,
UK
on
secondment
to
the
Indonesian
President’s
Delivery
Unit
for
Development
Monitoring
&
Oversight
(UKP-­‐PPP)
@yanuarnugroho;
yanuar.nugroho@manchester.ac.uk
Picture:
Private
Collec2on

2. Agenda
• Online
Indonesia
• Regula2ng
the
Net
• Alterna2ve
public
spheres
• Digital
media:
support
and
networking
• Digital
media
and
mobilisa2on
and
protest
• Tales
from
the
field
• Reflec2on

3. Online
Indonesia
Approx.
55
million
internet
users,
with
22.4%
penetra2on
…
60%
of
the
access
are
mobile-­‐based;
…
total
171
million
mobile
users
More
than
19.5
million
Twi$er
accounts
More
than
42.5
million
Facebook
users
More
than
5.3
million
blogs
listed

4. Story
#1:
Prita
and
freedom
of
expression
• A
common
housewife
– prosecuted
under
the
charge
of
defama;on
for
sending
complaints
through
private
e-­‐mails
regarding
the
service
of
the
Omni
Interna;onal
Hospital
where
she
was
treated.
– Was
jailed
for
3
weeks
and
was
released
aEer
a
public
outcry
which
gained
weight
aEer
becoming
viral
on
the
Net
thanks
to
Facebook
(Support
from
prominent
figures
inc.
the
former
President
Megawa;)
– was
sued
in
a
civil
case
and
fined
IDR
312
million
(USD37,
000),
and
later
was
reduced
to
IDR
204
million
(USD
20,
500)
• Indonesian
net
ac;vists
started
a
mailing
list
and
Facebook
group
called
Coins
for
Prita
– to
raise
money
from
people
throughout
the
country
to
help
her
pay
the
fine.
• As
a
result,
the
Hospital
dropped
the
civil
lawsuit
and
the
Supreme
Court
quashed
the
charge
…
– …
but
in
July
2011
the
Supreme
Court
overturned
the
decision
(despite
she
does
not
have
to
go
to
jail)

5. Story
#2:
@JalinMerapi
&
mobilisa2on
of
aids
It
was
5
November
2010,
7.30pm,
when
…
we
received
an
emergency
request
…
[that]
refugees
…
now
needed
6,
000
por;on
of
nasi
bungkus
(rice
meal).
...
Who
could
have
provided
that
much
rice
meal
in
such
circumstance?
…
At
7.55,
Nasir
tweeted:
#DONASI
nasbung
utk
6000
pengungsi
di
Pusdiklatpor
Depo
Kompi
C,
Wedi,
Klaten.
MALAM
INI
|
Candy
081XXXXXXXXX
[literally:
#DONATION
ricemeal
for
6000
refugees
at
Pusdiklatpor
Depo
Kompi
C,
Wedi,
Klaten,
TONIGHT
|
Candy
081XXXXXXXX].
In
half
an
hour,
the
phone
rang
again.
The
very
volunteer
in
Klaten
told
us,
gladly,
that
they
have
received
the
rice
meal
for
the
6000
refugees.
He
wanted
us
to
tell
the
public
about
the
maher
so
that
there
would
be
no
excess
of
rice
meal.
We
were
so
glad
and
felt
relieved.
(Ambar
Sari
Dewi,
Jalin
Merapi
volunteer,
interview
and
wrihen
tes;mony,
15/12/10;
this
was
also
published
in
Bahasa
Indonesia
in
the
Bulle;n
KOMBINASI
Edi;on
25,
2010).

6. Story
#2:
@JalinMerapi
&
mobilisa2on
of
aids
>
44,000
followers,
4,000
volunteers
Yogyakarta
25%
Indonesia
55%
Jakarta
14%
From
Outside
Indonesia
45%
Other
61%
Source:
Nasir,
2012

7. Story
#3:
An2-­‐corrup2on
movement
• Building
awareness
• Recruitment
for
movement
• Mobilisa;on
of
supporters
• Public
poli;cal
pressure
• Poli;cal
educa;on

8. Regula2ng
the
Net
..?
• Main
regula;ons
concerning
internet
and
digital
media
in
Indonesia:
– Telecommunica;on
Law
36/1999
– Electronic
Informa;on
and
Transac;on
Law
(ITE
Law)
11/2008
– Freedom
of
Informa;on
Law
14/2008
– and
other
laws
governing
media
in
general
• Aims
to
promote
&
protect
internet
access
in
the
country
…
• …
yet
endangering
the
freedom
of
expression,
e.g.
– ITE
Law
contains
regula;ons
regarding
the
defama;on
act
with
vague
defini;ons
that
eventually
can
be
used
to
prosecute
individuals
or
groups
expressing
their
opinions
on
the
Net
– Freedom
of
Informa;on
Law
s;pulates
one-­‐year
jail
term
for
any
‘misuse’
of
the
informa;on
• Example:
The
case
of
Prita
Mulyasari
Picture:
©
komikukomikita.wordpress.com

9. Alterna2ve
public
spheres
• The
par;cipants
are
the
“innovators”
(Liddle,
1988;
1996),
who
demand
a
more
democra;c
poli;cal
system.
– They
have
a
deeper
understanding
of
how
important
it
is
to
have
a
democra;c
atmosphere
in
order
to
be
heard
by
the
government.
– They
are
constantly
challenging
the
state
to
make
sure
the
values
are
implemented.
– Such
purpose,
they
believe,
can
be
achieved
by
using
media.
• Nearly
every
poli;cal
ins;tu;on,
ministers
and
poli;cal
par;es
are
nowadays
using
digital
media
as
well
to
win
over
the
masses.
• Several
cases
show
the
influence
they
have
in
the
socio-­‐poli;cal
sphere
is
quite
vast.
– E.g.
In
'Cicak
vs
Buaya‘
(an;
corrup;on
movement):
online
ac;vists
succeeded
in
ahrac;ng
the
ahen;on
of
the
conven;onal
media,
so
that
their
goals
were
widely
spread,
including
huge
rallies
across
the
country.
– Yet,
online
ac;vism
alone
cannot
guarantee
the
effec;veness
of
it.
Real
ac;ons
remain
central
to
gain
the
best
possible
result.

10. Media
network
in
Indonesia
Source:
Nugroho,
Putri,
Laksmi
(2012)

11. Digital
media:
Support
and
networking
• Providing
a
placorm
to
gather
those
with
the
same
views
regarding
a
par2cular
mader.
• Promo2ng
ac2vism
in
order
to
get
public
aden2on
• Enabling
engagement
with
wider
public
and
other
societal
actors
• Strengthening
civil
society
by
connec2ng
various
ac2vist
groups
…
• …
but
it
cannot
be
the
only
placorm
to
facilitate
social
changes.

12. Digital
media
and
mobilisa2on
• One
of
the
quickest
playorms
to
gather
supporters
for
par;cular
purposes.
– Twiher
and
Facebook
(also
mailing
list!)
– Gathering
and
exchanging
informa;on;
organising
mee;ngs
– Mobilising
supporters
and
resources
• Examples
– Jalin
Merapi
(humanitarian)
– An;
corrup;on
movement
(socio
poli;cal)
• Change
always
takes
place
in
the
real,
offline
sphere:
– the
role
of
physical
technology
(digital
media)
is
in
fact
secondary
to
the
social
one
(engagements,
mee;ngs,
direct
exchanges).
– Reflec;on
on
the
failure/stagna;on
of
‘Solidaritas
Lumpur
Lapindo’
(Lapindo
mudflow
solidarity)
movement
due
to
inability
to
‘link’
the
offline
and
online
realms
…

13. Reflec2ng
digital
media:
A
sui
generis?
• Much
ac;vism
facilitated
by
digital
media
…
• …
but
even
offline
protests/movements
do
not
really
change
poli;cal
decisions
(perhaps
influencing
the
processes?
eg.
Parlemen2.0)
– State
blockage
on
the
Net
con;nues,
– Internet
access
remains
poor,
low
quality,
and
unequally
distributed
– Local
governments
in
Yogyakarta
and
Central
Java
un;l
now
never
use
the
informa;on
network
established
by
Jalin
Merapi
– ‘Cicak
v.
Buaya’
did
not
manage
to
push
the
government
to
revise
the
Laws
on
Police
and
Corrup;on
Eradica;on
Commihee
– #SaveJakarta
did
not
yield
result
that
significantly
changing
the
society
– Despite
Prita
case,
UU
ITE,
etc.
remains
unrevoked
• Changes
that
happen
are
more
within
the
society
domain
(hence
fostering
social
innova;ons),
rather
than
within
the
government/decision
makers,
e.g.
– Public-­‐ini;ated,
voluntary,
independent
online
movements
– Guideline
for
digital
media
journalist
(by
Alliance
of
Independent
Journalists)
– Transforming
online
ac;visms
into
offline
ones
(e.g.
by
ICTWatch)

14. Civil
society
@c2vism
in
reflec2on
1. What
maders
in
civil
society
ac2vism
is
not
the
tools
such
as
the
Internet
or
new
media
per
se,
but
how
civil
society
strategically
and
poli2cally
use
the
media
to
advance
their
ac2vism.
2. As
change
always
takes
place
in
the
real,
offline
sphere,
the
role
of
physical
technology
(the
Internet
and
social
media)
is
in
fact
secondary
to
the
social
one
(engagements,
mee2ngs,
direct
exchanges).
3. If
new
media
can
strategically
be
used
in
civil
society,
there
is
a
good
possibility
for
concerned
groups
to
not
only
emerge,
but
also
to
contribute
to
the
shaping
of
rela2ons
between
technology,
poli2cs,
and
civic
engagements.
4. Civil
society
groups
and
communi2es
to
be
more
careful
and
cri2cal
towards
today’s
‘Internet
centricity’.

15. Yanuar
Nugroho
|
Manchester
Ins6tute
of
Innova6on
Research,
Univ.
Manchester,
UK
(on
secondment:
The
Indonesian
President’s
Delivery
Unit
for
Development
Monitoring
and
Oversight,
October
2012-­‐13)
|
yanuar.nugroho@manchester.ac.uk
|
@yanuarnugroho