Increasing threats against journalists following the revision of Indonesia’s National Armed Forces Law

On 20 March 2025, the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) approved the revision of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Law. The revision has the potential to lead Indonesia back into a military dictatorship and has been met with widespread protests. Amnesty International Indonesia reported that during the protests, police used excessive force, leading to injuries and arrests among demonstrators, including journalists covering these events.

While journalists reporting critically on the government have faced harassment before, the current repression against journalists reporting on the TNI law revision constitutes a significant escalation of this trend.  The environment for journalists has become increasingly perilous as they face threats not only from military personnel but also from state apparatuses attempting to suppress dissent against the TNI Law revision. Particularly, the military has emerged as a source of violence against journalists.

Notable cases of attacks against journalists include:

1. Adhyasta Dirgantara, a journalist from Kompas.com, received threats from aides of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Commander on February 27, 2025.
2. Francisca Christy Rosana, a journalist from Tempo, received a terror threat involving a shipment of a pig’s head with its ears cut off on March 19, 2025. Additionally, on March 22, 2025, she also received a shipment of a headless rat.
3. On March 19, 2025, a female journalist named Juwita was killed by a member of the Navy.
4. On April 4, 2025, a journalist with the initials SW was murdered at Hotel D’Paragon
5. On April 5, 2025, several journalists received threats and experienced physical violence while covering an event involving the Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Kapolri) in Semarang. This was carried out by aides of the Kapolri.
6. Since April 7, 2025, the Tempo website has been continuously experiencing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) cyber attacks. This stems from an investigative report titled “Tentakel Judi Kamboja,” which mentions Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, a high-ranking official in the Gerindra Party of President Prabowo Subianto
7. On April 9, 2025, Hadi Hadrian, a journalist from Hadejabar.com, was assaulted while covering an event in Subang, West Java.
8. On April 11, 2025, the home of Joko Purnomo, a journalist from DetikNews, was attacked with a Molotov cocktail by unknown individuals.

The continuation of violence and intimidation against journalists not only threatens individual safety but also poses significant risks to the overall democratic landscape in Indonesia. Without effective measures to protect journalists and uphold press freedom, the enabling environment for democracy will continue to deteriorate, ultimately affecting civic space and public participation in governance.