ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship
in Papua and ahead of the general election.117 Po-
In 2020, Twitter received 291 requests, and in
litical cyber troops are known to be a common and
2021, it reported 269 requests. Its latest reports
highly effective tactic to stifle online expression.
118
show a climb in compliance rate similar to that of
However, their impact extends beyond domestic
Google, from 28.1% in 2020 to more than 60% in
affairs. In December 2023, their actions took on a
2021. The transparency report from Twitter only
new dimension with the resurgence of fake UN ac-
covers data up to the end of 2021 for all countries.
counts. These impostor accounts played a signifi-
From 2020 to2022, TikTok received few requests
cant role in exacerbating anti-Rohingya sentiment,
to remove and/or restrict content due to local law
posting anti-Rohingya messages and further com-
violations. For the first half of 2023, 225 requests
plicating advocacy efforts for freedom of expres-
were made.123
sion in Indonesia. This highlights the urgent need
for safeguards against online misinformation and
manipulation.119
Online
Content
Restrictions
Manipulation
&
Government Requests to Remove or
Restrict Content or Accounts
The Indonesian authorities regularly issue requests
to websites and social media platforms to remove
information or content on their platforms. In 2020,
Meta received 772 restriction requests in total and
restricted access to 760 items on grounds of alleged violations of local laws. In 2021, it received
1009 requests for both platforms (Facebook and
Instagram) and restricted access to 4,011 items in
total. The first half of 2022 saw a decrease, with
1,475 requests and 1,458 items being restricted on
the two social media websites. In the second half
of 2022, 2,590 contents were restricted. Finally, the
first half of 2023 consisted of 5,240 requests.120
Google reported to have received 66 requests in
2020 across its platforms and had a compliance
rate of 24.4% in the first half of the year and 60.9%
in the second half. It reported 426 requests in
2021 and notably complied with 88.6% of them in
the second half of the year. In 2022, Google had
309 requests and a compliance rate of 56.8%. For
2023, 224 requests were made.121
Indonesia
97