TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (Safenet), Nenden Sekar Arum, revealed various patterns of digital repression against mass media and the public. These patterns were analyzed from Safenet's report on the digital rights situation in 2025 entitled "Orba Is Back, Repression Never Goes."
Nenden stated that digital repression is an effort to control the flow of information and silence critical voices. She observed that cyberattacks have taken on numerous forms. "From the 2025 trends, it turns out that digital repression has mutated," she said during the "Ngopi Media Talks: Then and Now" to commemorate the struggle against media repression on June 21, 1994, at Tempo TV Studio, South Jakarta, Monday, June 22, 2026.
Nenden mentioned that cyberattacks often start with online threats warning the victims. "I'm from this unit, please delete content A and content B. If not, we will prosecute you under the Information and Electronic Transactions Law," Nenden said.
After such warnings, doxxing, the unauthorized dissemination of personal information, follows. Subsequently, the perpetrators start digital repression.
Regarding the media, the model of digital repression includes distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on media sites. Another model is account suspension. "Usually experienced by critical individuals," she said.
In addition, there is also a model of digital repression through algorithmic censorship. Censorship can be carried out through shadow banning or limiting content visibility.
This type of algorithmic censorship decreases media content traffic. "Usually millions of views, but suddenly the content only gets 100 or 200 views," she said.
From a regulatory perspective, digital repression is carried out by obligating media to register as Electronic System Providers (PSEs). This registration obligates media to follow PSE regulations. Content deemed to spread harmful content by the government can have its permit revoked.
"When the registration evidence is deleted by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, it may not be operational. So, it's also part of the form of repression," she said.
Read: How Media Bans Have Changed Over Time
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