Internet and the Fall of Dictatorship (Indonesia)

In the mid-1990s in Indonesia, the political opposition's uses of the Internet even managed to help topple a strongman (General Suharto) who, until his unanticipated resignation in May 1998, had been Asia's longest reigning postwar ruler. He had seized power in 1965 with U.S. support and then engineered a bloodbath of over half a million opponents, real and supposed. His regime was notorious for its corruption, and his army for savage suppression of dissent, especially during its attempt to annex eastern Timor (now the nation of Timor Leste) after Portuguese colonial rule collapsed there in 1974.

In the 1990s, however, Indonesian students, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and journalists marked a new era by speeding the regime's downfall. Intense discussions about democracy and human rights were held in cyberspace and then disseminated through photocopying downloaded materials. Many militant actions were also coordinated on the Internet.

As a result, endeavoring to keep a grasp on the Internet became close to an obsession for the regime. Try as it might, the state apparatus seemed unable to predict or contain its rapid growth. The other crucial if paradoxical aspect of the situation was that in Indonesia—even up to 2010—the Internet was still free of censorship, though certainly not of political surveillance. Thus, although activists belonging to the “illegal” faction of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) might be living clandestinely and under assumed names, they were free to convey their propaganda on the web, and even insult the head of the armed forces and the president.

This meant that notwithstanding the draconic Anti-Subversion Law, a small desktop or laptop combined with a telephone connection enabled them to speak their minds without much fear of official retribution. Their words and ideas could travel throughout the country and even beyond its borders. Many came to use a number of simple but [Page 280]powerful encryption tools such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), smuggled in from the United States by human rights activists, which shielded Internet users from repression. Further safeguards were available through the anonymity offered by Hotmail, Yahoo, and Iname, among others. In addition, very few security forces or intelligence service staff at that time were Internet-savvy.