Admin
- September 26, 2025
Abuja, Nigeria – Thursday, September 11, 2025 – DigiCivic Initiative stands in solidarity with more than 50 civil society organisations across the globe to strongly condemn the ongoing digital repression in Indonesia. Following the national protests between August 25 and 31, where at least 10 civilians lost their lives, the Government of Indonesia has intensified its assault on civic space both offline and online through arrests, prosecutions, and sweeping digital restrictions.
We condemn the deaths of 10 civilians during the protests and denounce the mass arrests of young human rights defenders carried out by the Indonesian government, some of whom have been charged solely for legitimate expression on social media. We further hold social media companies complicit for enabling repression. Through deliberate overreach in content moderation and the imposition of restrictive features, they did not merely fail to protect voices on the ground but reinforced the state’s campaign of policing dissent.
As of today, four young human rights defenders have been charged under multiple provisions of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law) and the Indonesian Penal Code. DigiCivic joins the call on the Government of Indonesia to immediately release all detainees charged under the abusive provisions of the ITE Law, to uphold its obligations under international law, and to honour its commitments under the Universal Periodic Review. We denounce the actions of Bytedance and Meta for acting as agents of repression and call for them to respect the rights of users consistent with international standards. We urge the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor these violations closely. We also call on civil society worldwide to mobilise coordinated campaigns against both the Indonesian government and the corporations complicit in repression.
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Digicivic Initiative
