Lesra

People ransacked and looted Sahroni's house (member of DPR). Looting are also happened at Eko Patrio, Uya Kuya, and Sri Mulyani (as of right now, only Sahroni's house that looks like organic, others look orchestrated by provocators)

President allowing police and military to take strong action towards protesters x, x, x

Police and military have seen sweeping several neighborhoods in several cities x, x, x, x, x, x

Live streaming banned on Tiktok and Instagram

A journalist being questioned, presumably attacked and arrested by police during live streaming

Those things I listed are just the several examples that have been running viral, the exact situation is bigger than that. As of right now, the protest is still happening in several cities.

I hope this post can shed light on people outside my country about what's going on in Indonesia. There are not many Indonesian on this site, but we will continue to voice our concerns about our country.

Peaceful Labour Demonstration Met with Violent Escalation by the Indonesian Government

Civilians in several cities in Indonesia have been protesting on the streets, in response to our House of Representatives insensitive and derogatory remarks amidst difficult economic climate.

It was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration led by laborers and university students, but our government choose to ignore and even violently escalating it with police brutality + shooting tear gas. What sparked a nationwide outrage was during 28 August protest in the evening, one of the armored police/soldier truck sped up intending to run over protestors and it struck over a Gojek driver (ride hailing driver, similar to Uber) that fell when crossing the road amidst the chaos. The truck did stop but decided to ram the gas and ran over him when he's trying to stand, with other protestors shouting for them to stop.

The Gojek driver's name is Affan Kurniawan. He's just 21 years old, the breadwinner of his family. He lived with seven other people in a cramped small rented room. He was not even participating in the demonstration, at the time of his death he was WORKING. He was trying to complete a food delivery order before he was killed.

This incident was documented clear as day with several videos from different povs. Here's the most prominent one.

In response to Affan's death, nationwide protests are held on the following day. (29 August)

The protests continued even today on 30th August and it keeps on escalating. The government is now trying to frame the protesters as violent anarchists, they're trying to use the same tactic as the '98 tragedy. They've been deploying provocators and intels to riot and burn public transport station, even going as far as raiding several (decoy) houses that belongs to members of the House of Representatives. They've also taken several hostages, reports of kidnapping as per 28 August is 400+.

They have been turning off electricity access in several parts of Jakarta and just greenlit snipers and soldiers to shoot protestors on the head with rubber bullets. There's already several victims.

They've also blocked access to TikTok live and even tried to erase/take down several of video proof of police brutality. Police are now sweeping several areas and civilians are alerting each other to be careful and to stay safe and not answer the door.

So yes. Please pray and check up on your friend that lives in Indonesia. I fear that there's going to be a military emergency implemented by our warcrime president. If possible please help save the video proofs because our government are cracking down to erase any proof of violence.

Here's more background information about the events that leads to the demonstration:

Video explanation from Al Jazeera that interviewed one of us:

[DISCLAIMER] I have no formal law education — should there be any mistranslations or additional explanations about UU/Laws linked below do let me know so I can update and deliver this accordingly. if there's any blogger here with law edu background would like to add, do let me know. hope this helps others to understand the issue.

Direct translation — I try to be as neutral as possible given the context of the document.

--

To Whom It May Concern,

In light of recent developments regarding the proposed housing allowance for Members of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI), which has prompted public demonstrations expressing disagreement and dissatisfaction,

The Regional Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) of DKI Jakarta Province deems it necessary to take preventive steps to help ensure that conditions in society remain conducive, safe, and peaceful. Referring to:

Law No. 32 of 2002 on Broadcasting (Undang-Undang Nomor 32 Tahun 2002 Tentang Penyiaran)

Broadcasting Code of Conduct, Article 22 (Pedoman Perilaku Penyiaran Pasal 22)

Broadcasting Program Standards, Articles 40, 41, and 42 (Standar Program Siaran Pasal 40, Pasal 41, dan Pasal 42)

Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press and the Journalistic Code of Ethics ( Undang-Undang Pers Nomor 40 Tahun 1999 dan Kode Etik Jurnalistik)

The KPID of DKI Jakarta Province hereby advises all Broadcasting Institutions to:

Avoid airing coverage of demonstrations that portrays violence in an excessive manner;

Adhere strictly to journalistic principles, including accuracy, balance, fairness, good faith, non-incitement, non-misleading reporting, maintaining a clear distinction between fact and personal opinion, and avoiding sensationalism or depictions of violence;

Refrain from broadcasting content that is provocative, exploitative, or likely to escalate public anger;

Contribute actively to fostering a calm and peaceful atmosphere through news coverage and reporting on current developments related to ongoing public demonstrations.

This advisory is issued for your attention and compliance. We sincerely thank you for your cooperation.

--

Now, what this means and the concerns it’s raising:

The government is asking the broadcasting media to maintain neutrality by avoiding displays and portrayals of ‘excessive violence’ that occurs throughout the demonstrations and protests. This means that there’s a possibility that local (public or private-owned) may be banned from showing footages from the demonstrations itself, which may or may not include police brutality not unlike what occurred to the three victims last night, despite it being the truth and reality of what’s going on in the streets.

Terms and phrasing like ‘non-incitement’ and ‘avoiding sensationalism’ or ‘depictions of violence’ in point 2 as well as point 3 ‘content that is provocative, exploitative, or likely to escalate public anger’. As a response to how the public reacted, this statement instilled a deep sense of distrust in the government, the people are worried, scared, and concerned of a media censorship happening, of the government avoiding and concealing the truth, protecting those who have harmed the citizens in a shallow superficial veil of ‘calm and peaceful atmosphere’ (see point 4).

Note: As it stands, most Indonesian citizens are sharing the news and live updates of what’s going on through social media — Instagram, Twitter, TikTok LIVE, sharing them independently amongst the community (which includes labor workers, citizens, students, and motor taxi drivers) due to this distrust in the government. All the while fighting pro-gov buzzers and trolls. Currently though some people are facing issues of uploading content on Twitter (X) and Instagram stories.

Additional Reading: this post by user @/naomi-nana does an amazing job at breaking down what’s happening in Indonesia. this is not an issue that just pops up overnight, and it’s more than just about the proposed housing allowance for members of the DPR, it’s about the corrupt government, policies that only benefit the 1% (corrupt gov’t and police department included) whilst the people are losing jobs and struggling to make ends meet. a huge population of Indonesia are also informal workers, with salaries under the minimum wage of about IDR 5.500.000 (in DKI Jakarta) roughly USD 340 per month. these informal workers often gain only half or even less than per month.

Additional Data:

Poverty Rate Continues to Decline | July 25, 2025 | BPS-Statistics Indonesia

Understanding the Differences in Poverty Rates | July 25, 2025 | BPS-Statistics Indonesia

I won’t spam too much but just to give an indication of what’s going on in the doomed country I live in:

a motor taxi driver was ran over and killed by the police in a demonstration last night. his name is Affan Kurniawan, and he was only 21. he was not a participant but a mere innocent bystander who was brutally driven over. cctvs in the streets are shut down as per today, leaving many in the dark of the situations in the streets, aside from social media postings -- of which there are concerns of gov't censorship as well. I’m so worried for those who are joining the protests today onwards as well as the implications this will bring in the future.

details from another indo blogger

read more here

details of what the initial demonstration is about

(TL;DR -- the government stated that members of the parliament will receive a large sum of roughly around $6000/month from the country. this demonstration was a display of resistance to that. yet this is how the gov't and the police chose to respond -- with violence, whilst members of the parliament are enjoying their sanctioned 'work from home' day)