ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship Cyber-attacks on HRDs and Activists Continue to Erode Democracy Police) in relation to law enforcement’s failure to Much like other Southeast Asian countries, Indo- on which a piece on the case was also published, nesia is not a safe place for HRDs and activists was subjected to a series of DDoS attacks and be- to express their views online. A range of cyber tor- came inaccessible for a period of time.110 ture techniques are employed, the most prominent being intimidation, humiliation, slander, and doxxing.103 As human rights activism increasingly became digital in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the methods of attacks diversified to include Zoom-bombing and SMS phishing. Out of 147 digital attacks SAFEnet recorded throughout 2020, 66 or 44.90% targeted critical voices such as journalists, activists, university students, and civil society organisations.104 In 2021, SAFEnet reported 193 incidents of digital attack, with activists being targeted in 50 of them, civil society in 10 and media workers in 25.105 Another data, however, shows that the total number of attacks against HRDs in that same year stands at 120.106 In 2022, there were at least 97 cases of criminalisation related to expression in the digital realm, with 16 involving activists and 11 involving student activists. They both rank among the top 5 most victimised groups of 2022.107 Data for 2023 SAFEnet report has not yet been released. handle a rape case involving three minors in East Luwu, South Sulawesi. Project Multatuli’s website, Moreover, state authorities regularly block access to websites and online news outlets perceived to be critical of the administration.111 Among those that have been blocked are information-sharing blogs such as Reddit and websites focused on political content, gaming, alcohol and drugs, gambling and online dating.112 In July 2022, Indonesia implemented additional restrictions by blocking access to various online platforms, including the search engine website Yahoo, payments from PayPal, and several gaming websites. These actions were taken due to the failure of these platforms to comply with licensing regulations imposed by authorities.113 In 2023, Indonesia blocked 14 websites comprising 16 links in the category of Political Criticism and Terrorism and Militants. More than half of the blocking indicated HTTP blocking only (51.6%) as opposed to DNS tampering only (32.3%) or both DNS tampering and HTTP blocking (16.1%).114 Blocking is rarely, if ever, done with transparency as to its justification and duration. In May 2021, some 50 former members of KPK who There has also been a proliferation of state-spon- had been discharged for having allegedly failed the sored “buzzers” on social media platforms who National Knowledge Examination–a test designed are hired by the government to promote state poli- to gauge one’s proficiency in Indonesia’s state ide- cies or spread disinformation to manipulate public ology–reported being doxxed, Zoom bombed with opinion on certain sensitive issues, oftentimes by pornographic materials and having their email using doxxing or harassment techniques. Buzzers accounts hacked by anonymous persons.108 The receive between IDR 1 and 50 million ($66–3,344) events persisted through September, targeting dif- for their work, and are largely employed on a con- ferent former members and individuals who pro- tractual basis.115 One buzzer team leader inter- tested the discharge.109 viewed by Reuters revealed that he was able to control more than 250 accounts spread across In another case, independent media outlet Project Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other major plat- Multatuli, became a victim of digital attacks after forms during one operation, each with a false per- launching an online campaign with the hashtag sona.116 Buzzer support was notably widespread #PercumaLaporPolisi during the 2019 crackdown on a series of protests 96 (lit. #NoUseReportingto- Dawn of Digital Dictatorship: Weaponizing the Law Against Online Speech in Southeast Asia