The organisation and funding of Cyber Troops

hen in 2019 the Indonesian government wanted to curtail the powers of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), students took to the streets. Many Indonesians were angry about this seemingly blatant attempt to undermine the policing of corrupt politicians. Within a few days, however, debate on social media revolved around a surprising topic: ‘KPK and Taliban’. The many posts around this theme suggested that the KPK needed to be brought under control because it was infested with radical Muslims. As improbable as this claim may sound, the hashtag became a trending topic on Twitter and newspapers felt compelled to write about it. The online campaign to frame the KPK as ‘Taliban’ helped to turn public opinion in the government’s favour.