November 09, 2022

Populism and propaganda threaten Indonesia's elections

topic:	Election
located:	Indonesia
editor:	Leo Galuh

In the past, elections in Indonesia have been marred by identity politics, nationalism, religious fervour and misinformation, as political candidates seek to manipulate votes in their favour. The recent nomination of Anies Baswedan, the former governor of Jakarta, for the 2024 presidential run by Indonesia’s fifth largest party, the National Democratic (NasDem) Party, is seen by many as a dangerous preview of what is to come.

Anies Baswedan is a well-known academic and former university rector who studied in the United States on a Fullbright scholarship. He won his previous tenure as governour of Jakarta (finished in October 2022) in a polarised election in 2017, during which he used religious propaganda, to gain voters, particularly pandering to Indonesia's muslim population.

Baswedan has long recognised the importance of identity politics in local and national elections, according to Leo Suryadinata, a senior Visiting Fellow of ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. For example, to win his governorship in 2017, he formed an alliance with the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab. With Baswedan’s support, Shihab then organised a large demonstration of over one million people in December 2016 to “defend Islam” and “oppose Basuki Tjahaja Purnama,” Jakarta’s former governour.

Indonesia, a country of over 280 million people, is officially secular, yet has the world's largest Muslim-majority population. A growing tide of conservatism across age groups has led to deepening divisions in society.

Now, Baswedan's campaign team believes that starting the campaign earlier will give them a political advantage. They are looking for voters from various regions and communities, as well as seeking to remove the imprint of Baswedan's identity politics from 2017. To this point, Jakarta's Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Munahar stated unequivocally that his side has formed a cyber army to support Baswedan, working to rebrand him as a nationalist figure and bury his track record as a Machiavellian willing to use indecency politics to win.

When the other candidates begin campaigning, it is hoped that a snowball effect of support for Baswedan will form. Prior to polling in February 2024, voters may face a myriad of tactics to create distrust, anger, doubt and uncertainty in candidates, just like the 2019 presidential election. 

However, Indonesian voters still have the opportunity to protect themselves from this misinformation by collaborating with the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society, MAFINDO. This non-profit organisation provides training in reverse image search, video metadata and geolocation to help verify information.

According to Santi Indra Astuti, MAFINDO’s president, the elderly are especially prone to misinformation and fake news on digital platforms since they have limited technological skills and mobility.

“We teach them how to use social media, about personal data protection, and to look critically at trending topics: during COVID it was misinformation about vaccines, and in 2019, it was about the election and political candidates,” Astuti noted.

Photo by Hobi industri

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