Indonesia’s “Emergency Warning” Movement Against Jokowi’s Political Dynasty
Picture: Irma Garnesia
In an article by Fulcrum, Ika Ningtyas and Nuurrianti Jalli analyze the recent surge of political protests in Indonesia and the effectiveness of social media as a tool to strengthen political protests.
The public’s reaction to this manoeuvring was swift and innovative, in the form of a massive social media campaign. Centred on the phrase “Peringatan Darurat” (Emergency Warning) and featuring a blue Garuda icon, the virtual movement began on 21 August, when media outlets aired the DPR’s decision. An anonymous X account, @BudiBukanIntel, first posted the “PeringatanDarurat” symbol at 8:12 AM, which quickly went viral. It was viewed two million times, liked 26,000 times, and re-shared 6,000 times within hours.
Two main hashtags drove the campaign: #KawalPutusanMK (“guard the Constitutional Court decision”) and #PeringatanDarurat. The impact was significant across various social media platforms. On X, #KawalPutusanMK was the top trending topic with 2.1 million posts by 4 PM (Figure 1) on 21 August, while #PeringatanDarurat reached more than 200,000 posts. The movement’s reach extended beyond X, with 24,400 Instagram posts under #KawalPutusanMK and similar trends on Facebook and TikTok.
The rapid growth of the online “PeringatanDarurat” movement was fuelled by its adoption by influential voices. Popular accounts such as media outlet @narasinewsroom, civil society organisations and leaders including the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), academics, celebrities, journalists, writers, and student clubs all shared the message, amplifying its reach exponentially. This virtual activism quickly translated into real-world action. By 8 PM on 21 August, YLBHI initiated an online consolidation through Twitter Space, which was joined by more than 20,000 netizens. This digital gathering set the stage for the street protests that would unfold the next day, aimed at blocking the DPR from holding a plenary session to approve the amendment of the Regional Election Bill.
