Why is Prabowo Pushing for Legislation to Counter Disinformation and Foreign Propaganda?

Photo from instagram.com/prabowo

In an article for NYSEAN Partner Indonesia at Melbourne, Jesslyn Giovanni Mulyanto and Ary Hermawan assert their concerns over Prabowo’s proposed legislation to counter disinformation and foreign propaganda.

The Prabowo Subianto government is currently drafting a piece of legislation to counter disinformation and foreign propaganda amid allegations that hostile domestic and foreign actors are using cyberspace to undermine Indonesia’s national interests.

An academic memorandum outlining the rationale for such legislation (an important first step in the legislative process) has been circulating among journalists and activists. This has raised speculation that the government plans to speed up the handling of the bill. After all, Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told the media that the initiative to create the bill came directly from President Prabowo himself.

This is concerning because while the government asserts that the proposed bill will comply with human rights principles, as outlined in the academic memorandum, human rights groups are not convinced.

The big question is, as Indonesia faces creeping autocratisation under the Prabowo government, will the bill do more harm than good to its democracy?