In recent years, social media has emerged as a force capable of shaping political dialog, influencing democratic processes, and directing public opinion around the world. Indonesia itself is one of the countries with the most social media users in the world, of course, the use of social media in Indonesia plays a very important role and is used as a tool for public engagement and even as a medium for political campaigns. With the large involvement of social media, especially in the Indonesian political sector, this can also have worrying impacts such as the spread of misinformation, polarization, and can even trigger acts of violence, especially during political events that are quite vulnerable such as during the presidential election period.
The use of social media in Indonesia itself has continued to increase significantly over the past decade. This is certainly also supported by affordable smartphone prices, better internet infrastructure, and competitive data packages. In 2024, the majority of Indonesian people will be active internet users, and the majority will be involved in social media platforms such as Facebook which functions as a space for social interaction and political narratives, Instagram which is gaining popularity among younger people is a vital platform to be used as a political campaign tool, Twitter with trending topics and real-time updates has a role in shaping public opinion and strengthening political movements, and finally TikTok has emerged as a platform that is widely used by people of all ages. Short videos available on TikTok allow the creation of creative political videos that can attract young people’s votes.
The presidential election in Indonesia is an important event in the political sector of a country which, with the development of the times, will certainly be influenced by social media. Lately, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter have been used as tools to spread fake news and hate speech. The tensions that occur in the digital world often spill over and create violence that happens in the real world, this can certainly damage the unity and democratic process in Indonesia. The threats that occur in the digital world cannot just be ignored, especially in a country like Indonesia where religion and ethnicity are closely related to political parties, which will be vulnerable to propaganda spread through social media.
This essay will examine how the role of social media can trigger violence during the presidential election in Indonesia. Moreover, this essay will also focus on how social media platforms are used to facilitate acts of violence and manipulate public opinion. By further investigating the events that have occurred, it is hoped that this can explain the implications of social media for political stability and democracy in Indonesia, and provide recommendations that may be able to reduce its impact in future elections.
Theoretical Framework: Constructivism in International Relations
The use of constructivist theory in this case can provide an important perspective to understand the role of social media in political violence that occurred during the presidential election process. By focusing on identity, ideas, and norms, constructivism can certainly view the use of social media as the main medium used by political actors and their supporters to build and spread political narratives and identities. Where these incidents are not caused by technological failures but are deeply rooted in a narrative construction that competes for legitimacy. A narrative that is left alone can increase tensions and worse, can divide the unity of a country. By using a constructivist perspective, this essay can reveal the complex interactions that occur between identity construction, social media, and political violence in Indonesia. Constructivism also provides an understanding of how digital platforms can shape political reality and offer normative responses that can be taken to reduce losses in the election process.
Analysis
Constructivism as a framework will certainly analyze how the presidential election process occurs to describe how the role of social media functions as a platform for building political identities and narratives and triggering violence. I will focus on three main points which will include, identity building, narrative distribution, and the impacts that play out in the real world.
Identity building can take place through social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and others, where these platforms become a space for political affiliation framed along religious and ethnic lines. Actors or influencers affiliated with political parties will continue to emphasize the differences between these supporter groups, which will unknowingly foster an awareness of “us against them” which will further deepen polarization and increase the perception of threat. This played an important role in the election during the 2019 presidential election, which occurred between Jokowi supporters and Prabowo supporters. The existence of a wild narrative that said Jokowi as a defender of pluralism and Prabowo as a protector of conservative Islamic values ​​certainly heated up and triggered conflict at that time. With constructivism, of course, we can understand that this identity is not fixed but is constructed socially through existing narratives.
The distribution of narratives that carry misinformation has become a significant aspect of the 2019 election, where there are wild claims that Jokowi has secretly collaborated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), a group that has an unpleasant history in Indonesia. On the other hand, there are rumors circulating about Prabowo’s alleged authoritarian tendencies and his military actions that are quite contrary to human rights in the past. These narratives are certainly spread strategically in order to weaken the candidate and shift votes based on prejudice and fear. The algorithms that exist on social media here also promote this misinformation, can reach a much wider audience, and continue to increase political tensions. With constructivist theory, it can be underlined how important these narratives are in shaping political reality, and show how these narratives have an impact on social differences and cause pre-existing cultural anxieties.
How it impacts the real world and the violence that happens can be clearly seen in the protests after the presidential election in May 2019, which were the result of digital polarization and the construction of negative narratives. Prabowo supporters who continue to voice their disagreement with the election results, organize a large-scale demonstration that continues to escalate creating violent clashes with security forces. Hashtags and viral videos claiming manipulation in the voting continue to be spread through social media, becoming an important role in encouraging the creation of these demonstrations. This incident is explained through constructivism as a translation of digital identities and complaints that are built into collective action in the real world. The violence that occurs is not only sudden but also a result of narratives that are rooted in framing the election as a struggle for survival, which is rooted in the identities built by different parties.
To address the increasing threat of political violence triggered by social media, the Indonesian government has taken several steps aimed at increasing accountability and reducing negative impacts. The first step taken by the Indonesian government was to build and introduce laws such as the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) that can combat misinformation, hate speech, and dangerous digital activities that can trigger conflict. Although this law is not perfect and has been widely criticized for its potential for misuse, it still reflects an effort to set normative boundaries for acceptable digital behavior.
The second step taken by the Indonesian government is monitoring and deletion. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (KOMINFO) has begun to actively monitor content on social media and also collaborates with platforms to take action to delete content on posts that are inflammatory or inappropriate. During the 2019 presidential election, KOMINFO has collaborated to identify and delete thousands of content on social media that contain hate speech and fake news.
The final step taken is to raise public awareness of the vulnerabilities in social media that can trigger conflict during the presidential election period. The Indonesian government has started a public awareness campaign that focuses on promoting digital literacy so that people can analyze existing content and understand the characteristics of fake news and misinformation. Furthermore, the government is also encouraging the creation of groups or communities that can help to continue educating the public in dealing with and fighting polarization and assessing political content that continues to circulate during the presidential election period.
However, behind the efforts that have been made by the Indonesian government, there are still several other ways that can be done to maximize the effectiveness of the goals that are to be achieved to reduce the negative impacts of social media during the presidential election period. Such as by holding a multi-stakeholder dialogue that will expand community involvement in the process of dealing with fake news and polarization. This can include academics, technology companies, policymakers, and even civil society who must be able to unite in dealing with threats that may come through social media. This dialogue can be used as a platform for people of all ages and backgrounds to exchange knowledge, opinions and establish collaborations that can create innovative solution developments to address complex digital problems.
Another way is to encourage the creation of global cooperation on platform accountability that allows for the creation of new standard guidelines on content moderation, maintaining platform accountability, and algorithm transparency. This needs to be done with the awareness that based on the cases that occurred in Indonesia, we can understand that social media platforms that act as centers of polarization and triggers of conflict are prone to occur throughout the world. Considering that the interaction between digital identity and real action does not only occur in Indonesia, there needs to be a global framework that can handle this problem. Using a more collaborative approach will certainly make it easier to handle the challenges that will come with social media governance.
As a final way that may be attempted to help is to strengthen and continue to develop the existing legal framework. This framework must be able to adapt and be in line with the norms and ethical standards used in digital communication. Its creation must also encourage inclusive and constructive engagement so that it can maintain the health of democracy. In addition, this framework must also be able to balance between the regulation of harmful content and the protection of people’s freedom of expression. To maximize this framework, the mechanisms used to enforce the law in this framework must also be able to be more transparent and protect against abuse because this will be very important to build legitimacy and public trust.
Conclusion
To conclude, social media has influenced the political landscape in Indonesia. While social media can function as a powerful tool to encourage democratic engagement and communication, it is important to realize that social media has great potential to be misused to trigger polarization, misinformation and cause political violence, which of course cannot be ignored. The presidential election in Indonesia has provided a clear example of the double-edged nature of social media. This election shows how social media platforms can amplify narratives that can be divisive and trigger violence, but also underscores the need for collaborative efforts to reduce this risk. Through a constructivist perspective, this essay has provided an illustration of how social media builds identities and narratives that can influence political behavior and outcomes. In the future, by continuing to improve regulation and digital literacy, Indonesia will certainly continue to utilize the positive side of social media while reducing its negative impacts. This effort must of course be carried out collectively by various parties in society who will later not only maintain the democratic process but also contribute to a more powerful and united society.
