Hey everyone, back with another update on the situation here. Things took an even stranger and more disturbing turn last night (the 29th).
Suddenly, huge news broke about bus stops (halte) being burned, offices in Bandung set on fire, and even a provincial DPRD building (like a regional government office) being torched.
This is… honestly, really suspicious. Let me explain why.
First, remember the police told people not to go live on TikTok/FB, CCTV cameras around protest areas were mysteriously destroyed before the protests even began (before 25th), and the KPI (the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission) sent a letter telling national TV stations not to cover the demonstrations.
Well, suddenly, last night, news about these fires was everywhere on those same TV channels.
The biggest red flag? The student protestors and most of demonstrators had already finished their protest and started going home around 6-7 PM. The burning happened after that.
The burning happened incredibly fast and was very coordinated, like it was planned. There are even leaks from demonstrators saying they were forced to back away by "security," and when they looked back, the bus stops were already on fire.
Let's be real: to burn down big buildings and bus stops, you need a lot of gasoline, and high-quality stuff at that (like Ron 92 fuel). And that stuff is expensive and not easy to get in large quantities. It seems impossible that the demonstrators did this. Many of them can't even afford proper safety gear for themselves—where would they get the money for massive amounts of high-grade fuel? Plus, gas stations here would never sell that much fuel to regular citizens anyway.
It also makes no sense. The demonstrators need public transportation to get home! Why would they burn the very bus stops they need? And if they really wanted to destroy public property, why wait until after the protest was over and everyone was leaving?
Tragically, there were fatalities in the fires in Bandung and Makassar.
This feels like a playbook we've seen before. There's even a famous documentary about it called "62 Minutes: The Sarinah Bus Stop Burning Operation" on Youtube about the 2020 protests. In that case, the police quickly named four suspects. But an investigative news outlet, Narasi, used facial recognition and found clear footage of the actual arsonists—and they looked nothing like the four people the police presented.
There's also a video going around that clearly shows a man in a white hat who started the clashes between protestors and police. You can see the police look right at him, but then they strangely turn and start hitting the protestors instead.
And let's not forget those videos inciting people to loot stores, which conveniently show the faces of the "looters" perfectly.
These are old tactics: create chaos to divide people, turn public opinion against the protestors, pitting citizens against each other, and give police a reason to shut the protests down.
And it's working. By the afternoon of the 30th, my TikTok FYP was flooded with videos of the "victims" of the fire—a grandma whose house behind the DPRD building burned down, a woman whose food stall was destroyed. The comments are all blaming the protestors for being "anarchists." The narrative is being successfully shifted. The issue is no longer about the people's demands; it's now about "violent protestors."
But it's not all bleak. A lot of Indonesian netizens are also speaking out loudly against this narrative. People are trying to rationalize what happened, pointing out that the arsonists and looters were likely not real protestors but oknum—infiltrators or bad actors sent to discredit the movement.
There's a big effort online to spread information urging everyone to stay focused. The message is: "Don't fall for the divide-and-conquer tactics. Remember the real reason we are protesting. Do not let them split us apart, especially along SARA lines." (SARA stands for Suku, Agama, Ras, dan Antargolongan- Ethnicity, Religion, Race, and Inter-group relations. It's a highly sensitive issue in Indonesia because conflicts based on these themes have led to severe violence in the past, and the government often uses "SARA" as a reason to crack down on freedom of speech to "maintain harmony" they also often use "SARA" to "punish citizen" and "shift the blame")
"SARA" is one of the favorite issues to use for controlling public opinion and diverting public focus. This is because in Indonesia, there is more than one officially recognized religion, and there are many cultural beliefs stemming from native ethnicities and tribes. Furthermore, there is a vast number of distinct ethnic groups here. Therefore, "friction" between different SARA groups is an extremely sensitive matter and issue in Indonesia.
The collective plea is to not be easily provoked, to be smart about checking information, and to absolutely avoid letting this become people vs. the military. The goal is to keep the focus on the government and the original demands for change.
Also today, two high school students were hit by a police vehicle. Again.
But tonight, a crucial video surfaced. It clearly shows the arsonists arriving with ladders, gas cans, and what looks like gunpowder to burn a specific bus stop—the one that protest medics were using as a first aid station to help the injured. Even worse, one of the people being treated there had been hit by a bullet casing.
A few days ago, it was also revealed that the government was offering influencers huge amounts of money to become pro-government "buzzers." If they're paying influencers, you can only imagine how many other people are being paid to spread chaos and misinformation online.
There are also photos circulating of snipers on rooftops. I don't know if they're using paintballs or "non-lethal" rounds, but it's terrifying to see.
Oh, and in a North Sumatra protest today, the police put their female officers (polwan) at the front line with the male officers behind them. It's just... baffling.
On a practical note: Many are reporting that news about the protests has suddenly disappeared from their "For You" page. There's even a report from an Indonesian in the Netherlands who couldn't post anything about the protests if it included the Indonesian flag.
I've felt it too. My feed today has been dominated by the arson stories, not the protests themselves, even though I use a modded "international" version of TikTok. It seems the meeting between KOMDIGI, Meta, and TikTok is already having an effect.
Tonight, around 9:30 PM on the 30th, a lot of people here couldn't view or go live on TikTok. The blocking happened in waves. It started in the afternoon, with TikTok becoming unbearably slow and laggy—a clear prelude. Then, it peaked around 9:30 PM when the core function itself was killed: the 'Live' and 'View' features were completely removed from almost all Indonesian TikTok accounts. Well, mine is still able to view or go live, tho–
This is all extremely concerning because there's supposed to be another huge demonstration tonight, and now we can't stream it live. Let's be clear: we've already seen pieces of video from previous demos where the police clashed with and brutally beat protesters. If the CCTVs are broken, no national TV stations are doing live coverage on the ground, and now we can't go live on social media either... that's incredibly dangerous. Who knows what the police will do to the protesters there? Those of us who are far away from the demo sites won't be able to monitor the situation or hold anyone accountable.
Of course, TikTok and Facebook aren't the only live-streaming platforms, but they're the most common ones used here for that kind of communication. So, it's a major blow. I know some protesters are trying to use other apps to broadcast, but it's not the same.
There's also the issue that the police will be using rubber bullets at the demo tonight. This just raises the tension and danger even higher. But in truth, who's to say that among those rubber bullets, there won't be real ones? There are already many photos and reports hinting at 'abductions' and 'kidnappings' of protesters by police officers. There are even leaked chat screenshots essentially saying that if you get caught, you'll be taken to a police building and shot dead. Isn't that absolutely terrifying?
Now, I have to say, this and the rumor about rubber bullets are just 'issues' and leaks that I've seen circulating on TikTok. I sincerely hope they remain just rumors and don't become a reality.
It just feels like everything is being set up for the worst to happen in the dark, away from the public eye.
But deep down, I really don't want this to escalate any further. The last thing anyone needs is for this to turn into military vs. civilians, or even worse, civilians vs. civilians vs. military. Much less for the country to enter some kind of 'military emergency' like what happened in South Korea not long ago.
The irony is just overwhelming. August is our independence month, and the 29th was the anniversary of the DPR itself. This is not how a country should celebrate.
If I can, I'll keep you updated tomorrow, and maybe every day until all of this ends. On a slightly more hopeful note, I personally don't think the 'internet shutdown' will be a complete blackout for the whole country—that would be a massive disaster and would scream that something is terribly wrong to the entire world. Let's be real here, they probably want to avoid that.
What's more likely is that they'll just make everything incredibly slow and difficult to use. I mean, in many parts of Indonesia, 4G is still a luxury—most of us are still on 3G on a good day! I'm still using 3G in here.
I'll keep translating as much as I can with whatever connection I have. Thank you so, so much for sticking with me, for your patience, and for caring about what's happening over here. It means a lot.
Please stay safe, everyone.
—Reiya