JAKARTA: Indonesia’s government is taking an “authoritarian” turn under President Prabowo Subianto, allowing disinformation to discredit critics and justify repression, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
In a report titled “Building up Imaginary Enemies,” the rights watchdog highlighted a trend of branding critics “foreign agents.”
One of them, Indonesian rights activist Andrie Yunus, became the victim in March of an acid attack that left him blind in one eye.
Andrie, 27, has been a vocal critic of what many perceive as the military’s expanding role in government, and was attacked shortly after recording a podcast on the topic.
Amnesty said its investigations found “a growing pattern in which Indonesian authorities — including the military — deploy online disinformation to target journalists, activists, academics and protesters in retaliation for their legitimate activism and expression.”
