TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Deputy Minister of Communication and Digitalization Angga Raka Prabowo has urged social media platforms to take action against engineered content used to provoke the protest at the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Senayan, Jakarta, on August 25, 2025.
According to Angga Raka, the demonstration became biased and chaotic due to engineered social media content that was hoaxed or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI).
"This is what we are urging the platforms to do. With their system, they should be able to detect, 'oh, this is by AI, oh, this is not true, oh, this is fake.' It should be immediately taken down by their system," said Angga Raka at the Presidential Communications Office in Jakarta on August 26, 2025.
However, Angga Raka emphasized that the takedown should not be interpreted as silencing freedom of expression, but rather to avoid being provoked by inappropriate content on the ground.
Angga will request that social media platforms implement a system for addressing such engineered content. He mentioned that the government has invited representatives from TikTok Asia Pacific and Meta Indonesia to Jakarta. However, Angga has not communicated with X as they do not have an office in Indonesia.
"In our view as Indonesian citizens, they should comply with the laws in Indonesia since they operate on Indonesian infrastructure and their users are Indonesians," he stated.
Call for August 25 Action Circulating on Social Media
The call for action on August 25, 2025, had gone viral on social media. The movement, claiming to be the "Indonesian People's Revolution," invited various elements of society, workers, farmers, and students, to take to the streets.
In their narrative, they demanded an investigation into alleged corruption cases involving the family of former President Joko Widodo and the impeachment of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. "Let's urge the House of Representatives (DPR) to carry out its functions and duties as a government oversight," reads the message received by Tempo on Sunday, August 24, 2025.
Additionally, an invitation for a protest at the DPR on Monday, August 25, 2025, emerged. According to Tempo's observations on social media, several accounts uploaded videos narrating the planned demonstration. However, the videos shown did not depict the actual conditions. One of the accounts, TikTok @inibukanni**, uploaded five videos on Sunday, August 24, 2025.
In one of the videos, the account cautioned the people planning to participate in the protest to be careful and bring water. The account used a video showing a crowd dressed in university academic gowns standing in front of the gate of the DPR building in Senayan, Central Jakarta. However, the date of the demonstration was not confirmed.
In another video, the account portrayed the current conditions as though it were the front entrance of the DPR. "Current conditions in front of the DPR, ready for the protest tomorrow with barriers in front," wrote the account. The video, whose recording time could not be confirmed, was viewed 2.7 million times and received thousands of comments.
Some netizens have expressed concern about the substantial income of DPR members. The legislative body is under scrutiny because of the size of its job allowances. Politicians receive a housing allowance of Rp50 million per month.
Doubts Over Call to August 25 Protest
Chairperson of the All-Indonesia Workers Confederation (KSPSI), Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat, stated that it was unclear who was responsible for the protest on August 25 in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building.
"Due to the unclear organizer and the demands being made, I forbid all members of the extended KSPSI family throughout Indonesia, especially in the Jabodetabek area (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi), from participating in the August 25 demonstration," said Jumhur on Saturday, August 23, 2025, as quoted by Antara.
The community organization 'Bareng Warga' confirmed that they would not participate in the protest. The 'Bareng Warga' social media account is known for frequently sharing information and support for community activities in the country.
"This time, we won't be involved because we're suspicious of the actions. We suspect there is potential for non-organic participants in the protest," said one of the 'Bareng Warga' admins to Tempo on Monday, August 25, 2025.
'Bareng Warga' mentioned that they had conducted internal investigations and concluded that the narrative about the protest on social media this time was quite suspicious.
Several accounts, usually known as buzzers, which are normally against or critical of protests, suddenly expressed support with a narrative to abolish and flatten the DPR. "We're really worried. Many ordinary people truly believe the issue," they said.
August 25 Protest Turned Riot
The protest on August 25, yesterday, turned chaotic into the night. Moreover, a photojournalist from the National News Agency Antara, Bayu Pratama, was hit by police on duty guarding the demonstration around the House of Representatives (DPR) building. He said a police officer struck him several times with a baton.
"Even though I had two cameras with me and was wearing an ID card," said Bayu on Monday, August 25, 2025, as quoted by Antara.
The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) estimated that police arrested 370 protesters on Monday, August 25, 2025. LBH suspects that half of the participants who were arrested were underage.
In the evening, after the rally, several legal aides from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute visited the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters in South Jakarta, where the police had taken the protesters. They received information about the number of arrestees from the General Crimes Directorate of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police.
"There were around 370 people arrested at the Police Headquarters," said a representative from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Daniel Winarta, in a written statement on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. "Two hundred of them were underage."
The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute stated that many of the August 25 protesters appeared to have sustained injuries.
Dian Rahma Fika, Andi Adam Faturahman, Nabiila Azzahra, and Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to this report
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