Event Summary
Before August 2025, people from various social backgrounds (urban, rural, grassroots, etc.) were widely raising the One Piece flag, which is the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates crew from the anime One Piece. The raising of the flag is done as a form of resistance, protest against perceived injustice, freedom from oppression, and dissatisfaction with the government. Then, at the beginning of August, this movement escalated into an expression and criticism of the government, even spreading widely on social media. Subsequently, through several ministries and local governments, the Indonesian government banned the raising of this flag for various reasons. For example, Budi Gunawan, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs of Indonesia, stated that this movement was a provocation and could be interpreted as ‘treason.’ In addition, the Minister of Human Rights supported this, saying the ban was in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and would even seek support from the United Nations.
This ban is another form of silencing citizens’ expression carried out by the Prabowo-Gibran regime. Similar incidents have previously occurred when the People’s Movement under the hashtag #IndonesiaGelap was considered an anarchist movement, pessimistic, influenced by foreign support, eventually leading to a counter-narrative movement called #IndonesiaCerah. In the context of raising a different flag alongside the Red and White flag (Indonesia’s national flag), similar experiences were also felt by the People from Papua when raising the Morning Star flag (Bintang Kejora), as well as the Palestinian flag used in solidarity with the genocide.
In several regions, the prohibition of flying the One Piece flag was even enforced by security forces, with excessive use of force by the military and police as documented by Amnesty International. The government’s actions in response to this are excessive and narrow the civil and political space for citizens to voice or express their concerns, especially relating to public policies. Furthermore, it should be a concern that repetition may lead to the normalization of government actions in the name of nationalism (national security, symbols, state emblems, etc.). Excessive actions must be avoided to reduce legal uncertainty and the arbitrariness of power in using the law.