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| DEEP Indonesia Director and Democracy Activist, Neni Nur Hayati (Photo: Neni's doc) |
sukabumiNews.net, BANDUNG – The Director of the Democracy and Election Empowerment Partnership (DEEP) Indonesia and democracy activist, Neni Nur Hayati, has received threats, terror, and even hacking of her personal social media accounts.
This is suspected to
have occurred due to posts she uploaded to the official West Java Communication
and Information Office (Diskominfo) accounts, jabarprovgoid, humas_jabar, and
jabarsaberhoaks, discussing the media budget.
Neni explained that
on May 5, 2025, she made a post discussing the "dangers of buzzers that
could threaten the nation's democracy," which she published on her
personal account @neninurhayati36.
In the post, Neni
continued various information conveyed by Kompas data related to "Buzzers
Surrounding Citizens", "Investigating the Traces of Buzzers, from
Cosmetics to Politics", "Political Buzzers Waste Budget and
Propaganda Tools that Threaten Democracy" and "Technological Devices
Used by Buzzers are Sold Freely".
"My goal is
simply to educate the public and remind regional heads not to over-promote
their image, to involve the public in every decision-making process, and to
refrain from deploying buzzers to attack activists critical of public policy. I
also quoted the thoughts of the President of the United States from 1961-1963,
John F. Kennedy, who reminded us all that a democratic nation need not fear its
citizens, who are free to express their opinions and openly assess the truth or
lies of state officials," Neni explained in a written broadcast on
Wednesday (July 16, 2025), as quoted by SukabumiNews from RRI.
Neni stated that in
the video, she did not mention the Governor of West Java, Dedi Mulyadi. The
video is general and applies to all regional heads elected in the 2024
Simultaneous Elections.
"I realize that
some videos criticize Kang Dedi Mulyadi's policies, but there are also others
that I appreciate. I think this is normal. I'm not making personal attacks,
because what I'm criticizing is his policies. Besides Kang Dedi, there are certainly
many other public officials I also criticize through this TikTok account,"
he explained.
Unfortunately, after
the old post surfaced, the West Java Provincial Government responded to it
through the official West Java Communications and Information Office
(Diskominfo) accounts, jabarprovgoid, humas_jabar, and jabarsaberhoaks.
"To date, my
TikTok post has received 1,225 likes and 441 comments. Furthermore, for two
days now, my Instagram and TikTok accounts have been flooded with insults and
abusive language, relentlessly. I tried to respond appropriately, but these
accounts resorted to even more brutal actions," he said.
He also expressed his
regret over the incident and considered the attacks, terror, and hacking
carried out by irresponsible individuals a form of regression to freedom of
expression.
"I certainly
deeply regret the West Java Provincial Government's move to post my photo
without my permission, interpret it unilaterally, judge, and disseminate it
through the official Communications and Information Office (Diskominfo)
account. Instead of providing space for freedom of expression, what happened
was that it stifled that freedom with repressive measures, even though we have
come decades since the collapse of the New Order regime," he said.
"The silencing I
personally experienced through surveillance of my social media activities and
account hacking is a sign of the decline of democracy, the rise of
authoritarianism, and an increasingly difficult path. I certainly hope that the
state, as the legal authority and policymaker, will continue to open up space
for freedom of expression and protect the rights of assembly, association, and
expression," he said.