Two Melanesian Students in Wamena after being shot by Indonesian army declaring independence
A recent digital forensic investigation has revealed that multiple attempts have taken place in the digital world to manipulate the narrative about the protests and riots in the Papua and West Papua provinces in favor of the Indonesian government.
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots. The first of the recent incidents of abuse occurred in August in Surabaya, East Java, which triggered protests in some cities, including in Jakarta.
The second abuse allegedly occurred in Papua, where a non-native teacher at a local high school reportedly called a native student a “monkey”. The incident sparked protests and violence on Sept. 23 when mobs, reportedly made up of native Papuans, set buildings and vehicles on fire. Thirty-three people, mostly non-natives, were killed during the riots.
The Indonesian authorities claimed they limited internet access in Papua during the riots in the hope of curbing the spread of fake news. However, the digital forensic investigation found otherwise.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyber-policy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
Facebook eventually found links to a local media firm, InsightID, which was said to be spending about US$300,000 on Facebook ads, mostly paid in Indonesian rupiah.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
“Our content is focused on messages of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [Unity in Diversity], the unity of Indonesia and the optimistic efforts of Indonesia to resolve the problems in Papua,” it said in a statement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the Wawawa Journal and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
Online influence campaigns are still common in Indonesia, according to a report by Oxford Internet Institute director Philip Howard and researcher Samanta Bradshaw entitled “2019 Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation”.
The report listed Indonesia as among the 70 countries it found to have organized social media manipulation for shaping public opinions, deeming it a threat to democracy.
The report said the existence of cybertroops and computational propaganda in Indonesia was aimed at spreading pro-government or pro-party propaganda, attacking opposition or mounting smear campaigns, as well as driving division and polarization.
A recent digital forensic investigation has revealed that multiple attempts have taken place in the digital world to manipulate the narrative about the protests and riots in the Papua and West Papua provinces in favor of the Indonesian government.
The joint investigation, launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), found at least two online influence campaigns had been “disseminating pro-Indonesian government material on the issue of West Papua”.
The Papua issue refers to widespread protests against the racial abuse suffered by Papuans, which eventually led to riots.
The findings about the manipulative narrative were made by BBC open source investigator Benjamin Strick and ASPI’s international cyberpolicy center researcher Elise Thomas. The report was also published online by a United Kingdom-based investigative group Bellingcat on Oct. 11.
“The goal of both campaigns was to influence international opinion about the increasingly violent situation in West Papua, as Indonesian security forces crack down on the local pro-independence movement,” Strick and Thomas wrote in the report.
The team revealed the first campaign was operated by InsightID, an Indonesian communications firm. According to the report, the firm had been promoting pro-Indonesian government content on various websites and social media accounts aimed at international audiences.
During the campaign, the firm was also found to have targeted an opposition hashtag to influence its followers with pro-Indonesian and anti-independence content, as well as actively harass people who publicly supported independence or were reporting information that contradicted the government’s narrative on the situation in Papua.
“We have not found evidence to identify the client who has hired InsightID to run this information campaign,” Strick and Thomas wrote.
“However, based on the available facts we can conclude the client is a party which is able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ‘fake news’ information operation with the goal of influencing the international community’s political perceptions in favor of the Indonesian government’s actions in West Papua,” they added.
Findings about InsightID had been separately confirmed by Facebook, which issued a statement earlier this month saying it had identified and removed dozens of accounts and pages suspected of committing coordinated inauthentic behavior in Indonesia, primarily sharing content mainly undermining the West Papuan independence movement.
A group claiming to be InsightID later responded to the statement, saying the group worked to counter what it claimed was massive amounts of biased disinformation disseminated by the Papuan separatist movement.
The team also found a separate and smaller campaign running on the similar topic of West Papua. This one includes three “brands”, each of which has its own website and social media accounts: Wawawa Journal (WJ), Tell the Truth NZ and Noken Insight.
A notable example of an action undertaken by the campaign was the promotion of a statement attributed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres saying he supported the Indonesian government over the brouhaha in Papua. Later, it was found that the statement had been fabricated.
Some content spread in the campaign smeared several international media outlets based in Australia and New Zealand, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Moreover, it also targeted people who spoke out about the Papuan issue, including human rights lawyer Veronica Koman and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) chairman Benny Wenda.
One of the domains used in the second campaign was registered by Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, who had worked since 2014 in an organization called the Jenggala Center. The organization was originally a supporter of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla when the pair ran in the 2014 presidential election.
Jazuli admitted to the team his responsibility for the WJ and Tell the Truth NZ, while denying knowledge of Noken Insight despite evidence that the WJ Facebook page once used Noken Insight’s brand as its cover photo.
“Jazuli [said] that the sites and profiles were created on his own initiative by himself and friends, using personal money and were not related to his work with the Jenggala Center,” the report said.
It added that he claimed the campaigns were simply attempts to counter negative Western media coverage, rather than being propaganda or “fake news”.
Open statement of Jihad Group in Central Java, Indonesia
It’s not just West Papua‘s 2 million Christians who are vulnerable but all in our region. If these jihadist have Indonesian government and military approval then this should be a red line for Australia and the region. It’s an abrogation of the Lombok Treaty and Indonesia’s founding principles of Pancasila.
The creep of Islamic militia into West Papua began at least 18 years ago when Laskar Jihad first sent members into Sorong and Jayapura. In 2001 I interviewed the Commander of Laskar Jihad, Jafar Umar Thalib, in Ambon during the war. He told me directly he was sending jihadis to train in West Papua. After the liberation of Timor Leste, General Wiranto and the TNI moved much of their security apparatus from Timor to Papua.
For years I’ve heard from OPM sources of jihadi camps around Merauke in the southeast corner, close to the borders of PNG and Australia, but they could never get photo evidence. Now phone cameras are capturing all as would-be jihadis demonstrate in Java and arrive on ships in Papua.
The plight of the West Papuans can no longer be ignored.
No-one wants an un-holy war here, one that would spread…
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has told media he is prepared to meet West Papuan pro-independence groups to discuss problems in Papua.
Viva News reports that President Widodo, known as Jokowi, indicated he was willing to meet anyone to discuss important issues in his country.
Papua region has been gripped by weeks of protests, a security forces crackdown and violent unrest which has left over 40 people dead, according to authorities.
The proposal to meet pro-independence groups was put forward by representatives of the Papua and West Papua regional legislature
The representatives made the proposal when meeting with President Jokowi's Chief of Staff, Moeldoko, and Interior Minister Tjahjo Kumolo.
While the president did not single out groups to meet, Papuan representatives have suggested the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and the West Papua National Committee.
The Chairperson of the Maybrat Regency Parliament in West Papua, Ferdinando Solossa, made the suggestion at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta.
Both the Liberation Movement and the Committee are pro-independence organisations calling for West Papuans to be granted an independence referendum.
Last week, Detik Newsreported that Moeldoko said that he would himself be willing to meet with the government's opponents in Papua, and even mentioned the Liberation Movement's leader, Benny Wenda.
Moeldoko said he was willing to meet Mr Wenda in the interest of finding solutions to the ongoing problems in Papua.
The chief of staff was responding after meeting with Mr Solossa last week, with the Papuan representative emphasising that dialogue should involve an independent, neutral and objective third party in resolving the roots of political problems.
Pacific Island Forum leaders have urged the United Nations Secretary General to persuade the world’s industrial powers to take urgent action to reduce their carbon emissions.
Pacific leaders meet in New York with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Photo: Aupito William Sio
They highlighted critical priorities to securing the future of the Pacific region.
New Zealand’s Minister for Pacific People’s represented the country ahead of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s arrival.
Aupito William Sio says beyond the plea for action, Pacific leaders urge industrial nations to then stay on course to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to limit temperature rise.
“One-point-five degrees as agreed to in the Paris Agreement and I was quite proud of the way the Pacific Island Forum leaders co-ordinated and raised all the valid issues that were raised at the Tuvalu PIF conference.”
The 21 September meeting at UN Headquarters in New York gave Forum leaders the opportunity to formally table issues, including those discussed at the 50th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Tuvalu last month, before the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
Leaders also raised issues previously discussed with Antonio Guterres during his visit to Fiji, New Zealand, Tuvalu and Vanuatu in May.
“The Blue Pacific is the frontline of the fight against climate change which represents the single greatest threat to the future of our region,” said Nauru’s new president, Lionel Aingimea, who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Forum Chair, Tuvalu.
Forum Leaders briefed the UN Secretary-General on the Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now as agreed in Tuvalu. The Declaration sets out ten actions for urgent and effective climate action by all countries at the Climate Action Summit and at COP 25 in Chile in December.
Leaders also discussed the development of a new 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent to drive and lead the collective future of the Pacific region including the importance of securing and protecting ocean and marine resources for the future.
“Including our commitment to conclude all outstanding maritime boundaries claims in order to safeguard our maritime zones in the face of sea level rise and climate change.
“Our resolve to accelerate collective action to address the legacies of nuclear testing including on fisheries was also discussed,” said President Aingimea.
Pacific Leaders also raised the situation in West Papua at the meeting.
“Leaders reiterated their calls from the Forum Communique agreed in Tuvalu – for all parties to protect and uphold the human rights of all residents and to address the root causes of the conflict by peaceful means. The urgency around the Leaders’ request for the parties to finalise the timing for a mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua (Papua) was also conveyed,” said Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor.
Pacific to seek easier access to climate finance
Easing access to climate finance will be a focus for the Pacific at the Climate Action Summit.
The Pacific Regional Environment Programme’s principal climate change advisor said Pacific countries were making these firm commitments despite their own very low carbon emissions.
However, these countries were highly vulnerable to the climate crisis, and Espen Ronneberg said access to climate finance for adaptation was a priority for them.
“The resources are available, it’s just that it’s complicated to access them and doing so requires quite a bit of human capacity and expertise that sometimes is lacking or is simply too over-worked with other responsibilities.”
Espen Ronneberg Photo: SPREP
The Climate Action Summit takes place on 23 September at the United Nations in New York.
New Zealand’s government says it’s “deeply concerned” by recent violence in Indonesia’s West Papua during protests which have rocked the country.
At least 10 people have been killed in separate clashes between Papuan demonstrators, security forces and vigilante mobs.
Dozens of protestors and activists have been arrested by Indonesian police, which have deployed thousands of extra personnel to the region.
New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring the security situation and has raised concerns with Indonesian authorities.
It said it has encouraged Indonesia to facilitate a visit to Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reiterating a call from the Pacific Islands Forum.
“We have urged Indonesia to respect and protect the human rights of all its citizens,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said.
“New Zealand recognises Papua as part of Indonesia’s sovereign territory. We continue to encourage Indonesia to promote peaceful social and economic development in Papua.”
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat via gmail.mcsv.net
12:51 PM (5 hours ago)
to me
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General on events in West Papua
2.45 pm (Fiji Standard Time) Monday
02 September 2019
Suva, Fiji – Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor has expressed her concern at escalating violence in West Papua (Papua) including reports of several deaths, many injuries, arrests and damage to property.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in West Papua, and I call for calm, and restraint by all parties.
“We reiterate our calls for all parties to protect and uphold the human rights of all residents and to work to address the root causes of the conflict by peaceful means.
“These events make the proposed visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human rights to West Papua even more important.
“I repeat the recent call by Forum Leaders in Tuvalu for the parties to finalise the timing for a mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua,” said Dame Meg Taylor.
[ENDS]
Media contact:
Catrina Rowe
catrinar@forumsec.org
M: (+679) 9986455
Communications & Public Affairs
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Indonesian President Joko Widodo says he’s willing to meet West Papua leaders this week to discuss their demands for an independence referendum.
The offer comes as protests in West Papua enter a second week, with calls for the United Nations to investigate the deteriorating situation.
The Indonesian Government has blocked internet access to West Papua and deployed more than 1,000 troops to the province.
Warnings of an Indonesian crackdown come just weeks before Joko Widodo is inaugurated as president for a second term.
Guest: Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher, Human Rights Watch, and author of Race, Islam and Power: Ethnic and Religious Violence in Post-Suharto Indonesia
