Cyber-troops, digital attacks, and media freedom in Indonesia

IF 1.5 2区文学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Asian Journal of Communication Pub Date : 2022-05-04 DOI:10.1080/01292986.2022.2062609

Masduki

{"title":"Cyber-troops, digital attacks, and media freedom in Indonesia","authors":"Masduki","doi":"10.1080/01292986.2022.2062609","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines media freedom in Indonesia in the age of social media and cyber-troops. Scholars and media advocates have extensively debated social media's effects on freedom of expression and media, with some arguing that it offers room for citizens’ voices to be heard. Countering this argument, this article explores how social media-based attackers have undermined media freedom in Indonesia. It does so through in-depth analysis of digital attacks conducted before and after the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, during which politician-sponsored actors spread disinformation and waged cyberwar to achieve political goals. This study employs a descriptive qualitative method to contribute to the broader debate on media freedom and digital authoritarianism in the context of Indonesia's digital communication landscape. This paper shows how digital attacks and attackers are increasingly violating the media's autonomy and stymieing its service of the public interest. This paper expands on previous observations of media freedom, which have traditionally held that state intervention and media ownership concentration are political authorities’ main means of disciplining critical media and journalists.","PeriodicalId":46924,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Communication","volume":"32 1","pages":"218 - 233"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Journal of Communication","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2022.2062609","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 3

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines media freedom in Indonesia in the age of social media and cyber-troops. Scholars and media advocates have extensively debated social media's effects on freedom of expression and media, with some arguing that it offers room for citizens’ voices to be heard. Countering this argument, this article explores how social media-based attackers have undermined media freedom in Indonesia. It does so through in-depth analysis of digital attacks conducted before and after the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, during which politician-sponsored actors spread disinformation and waged cyberwar to achieve political goals. This study employs a descriptive qualitative method to contribute to the broader debate on media freedom and digital authoritarianism in the context of Indonesia's digital communication landscape. This paper shows how digital attacks and attackers are increasingly violating the media's autonomy and stymieing its service of the public interest. This paper expands on previous observations of media freedom, which have traditionally held that state intervention and media ownership concentration are political authorities’ main means of disciplining critical media and journalists.

查看原文本刊更多论文

印尼的网络部队、数字攻击和媒体自由

摘要本文考察了社交媒体和网络部队时代的印尼媒体自由。学者和媒体倡导者就社交媒体对言论和媒体自由的影响进行了广泛的辩论，一些人认为社交媒体为公民的声音提供了被听到的空间。针对这一论点，本文探讨了基于社交媒体的攻击者如何破坏印尼的媒体自由。它通过深入分析2014年和2019年总统选举前后进行的数字攻击来做到这一点，在这些攻击中，政客资助的行为者传播虚假信息，并发动网络战争以实现政治目标。本研究采用描述性定性方法，在印度尼西亚数字传播格局的背景下，为关于媒体自由和数字威权主义的更广泛辩论做出贡献。本文展示了数字攻击和攻击者如何越来越多地侵犯媒体的自主权，阻碍其为公众利益服务。本文扩展了以往对媒体自由的观察，传统上认为国家干预和媒体所有权集中是政治当局惩罚批评媒体和记者的主要手段。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Asian Journal of Communication COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Launched in 1990, Asian Journal of Communication (AJC) is a refereed international publication that provides a venue for high-quality communication scholarship with an Asian focus and perspectives from the region. We aim to highlight research on the systems and processes of communication in the Asia-Pacific region and among Asian communities around the world to a wide international audience. It publishes articles that report empirical studies, develop communication theory, and enhance research methodology. AJC is accepted by and listed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) published by Clarivate Analytics. The journal is housed editorially at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, jointly with the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).