The Threat of Cyber Troops (Introduction to Special Edition)

When Indonesian parliamentarians wanted to curtail the powers of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), social media was suddenly awash with messages suggesting that the KPK was full of extremists. When thousands of students took to the streets to protest against the controversial Omnibus Law for Job Creation, Twitter lit up with posts complaining about the ‘anarchic’ demonstrators. When the government of Joko Widodo, or ‘Jokowi’, faced criticism concerning his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, social media was flooded with memes and hashtags touting the economic benefits of Jokowi’s New Normal policy.