Data & Democracy Research Hub recorded that the #IndonesiaGelap hashtag (roughly translated as ‘Indonesia Goes Dark’) has dominated the social media platform X, reaching approximately 3 million posts (formerly ‘tweets’).
Co-director of the Data & Democracy Research Hub, Ika Idris, observed that the virality of this hashtag is due to how the posts associated with it serve as a way for the Indonesian public to express their opinions regarding the implementation of policies introduced by President Prabowo Subianto so far.
Idris also compared the #IndonesiaGelap hashtag with other viral hashtags that have reflected the restlessness of the Indonesian public.
“Various expressions of criticism and protest have been conveyed on social media X. The #KaburAjaDulu [roughly translated as ‘Just Leave First’] and #IndonesiaGelap hashtags have occupied online conversations. Then, a counter-narrative emerged in the #PergiMigranPulangJuragan [roughly translated as ‘Leave a Migrant, Home a Businessman’] and #IndonesiaTerang [roughly translated as ‘Indonesia Goes Bright’] hashtags,” said Idris in a statement to the press on Sunday, 23rd of February.
That being said, Idris also noted that, in comparison to the popularity of the #IndonesiaGelap hashtag, based on the monitoring conducted by the Data & Democracy Research Hub so far, online conversations featuring the #IndonesiaTerang hashtag have not been as frequent, with only around 2,209 posts (‘tweets’) on the social media platform X. Furthermore, while the #IndonesiaGelap hashtag has been used by approximately 104,000 unique accounts, the #IndonesiaTerang hashtag has, thus far, been used by only around 1,978 unique accounts.
The #IndonesiaGelap hashtag is a protest movement pioneered by university students from various regions in Indonesia in response to several controversial policies issued by the government since Subianto was inaugurated as the President of the Republic of Indonesia. One of the most voiced criticisms concerns the budget efficiency policy in various sectors, which is also being enforced in government ministries and institutions. According to the Indonesian news outlet Kumparan, this movement began on the 17th of February and has spread to various cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, and Malang.
Several experts believe that the student demonstrations related to the #IndonesiaGelap hashtag, which have taken place for almost a week, are an accumulation of public disappointment—potentially leading to a domino effect.
“Now it’s only the students who are making their movement. If this continues, the public will later unite with the students [as well],” remarked a sociologist from Gadjah Mada University, Heru Nugroho, as quoted from the press on Friday, 21st of February.