- 29/03/2016
- Category: Commentaries
Currently, the society is more digitalized. It is difficult to find people, especially in large cities that do not have internet access on their digital devices. The use of internet does not only belong to urban and executive people, but also to people in rural areas, especially among youths. Society is more active on social media. The existence of social media itself is one of the phenomena that hits most Indonesian youth. Indonesia has 90% of Internet users who access social media sites. Indonesia becomes the third largest recipient access of Facebook with 43 million users, followed by Twitter users which reaches 29.4 million users.
Social media have important roles, which are to spread political messages, to facilitate interaction and political dealings and be able to build knowledge about various political issues. Related to this, social media can also be a new medium related to the formation of collective identity that can be accumulated in order to achieve a movement, which is expected to achieve a change in society.
For example, the presence of online petition via website http: //www.change.org. The site is initiated by Ben Rattray, where everyone, both individuals and communities, can participate in making a difference through social campaigns in a form of online petitions. Change.org petition itself is the largest platform in the world, where there are more than 40 million users in 196 countries. Every day, people use the petition in this site to transform their communities, both locally, nationally and globally. In the end of 2013, then number of users of change.org in Indonesia has reached 71,000 active users. By its name, Change.org is a social platform for change. Change.org can be used by anyone, let anyone who wants to make a petition, in any topic. However, if the contents of the petition involve violence and discrimination, (ethnic, religious, racial, and inter group), it will usually be moderated in advance by the administrators.
The existence of this online petition shows that ways of activism are moving from traditional to a new one (online). All the people connected to the internet can participate and be actively involved in monitoring and criticize the social and political life in Indonesia. The users also often use this tool to participate in politics. Online petition platform Change.org becomes a bridge between the community and policy makers. Through change.org, the public can submit protests and criticism of the government and corporate performance. In addition, people can also participate in public affairs. Participation and community involvement in public affairs is indicated by their initiative to launch and support the online petition on issues.
Recently, there was a political issue involving the chairman of DPR RI, Setya Novanto. The case started on the circulation of recording his conversations with President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Ma’roef Sjamsoeddin, and entrepreneur, M. Riza Chalid. In this recording, “a request Freeport shares are reserved for president and vice president” related to the contract extension negotiations Freeport in Indonesia. The urge for Setya Novanto to resign from his position on the alleged profiteering and Vice President’s name was amplified through petition at change.org. This petition was signed by about 80 thousand people, backed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and then submitted to Mahkamah Kehormatan Dewan (MKD) on 24 november 2015. Following on December 16, 2015, Setya Novanto resigned from his position.[1] At first, the case was submitted to the MKD. However, in practice, MKD can not ask, tell, or advocate a board member who is in trouble for retreat, depending on the initiative of members of the board itself. The existence of this petition succeeded in an attempt to revive the culture of shame on the officials. This case reflects that the public is not silent and they monitor the performance of DPR.
In addition, the petition filed by Anita Wahid to delay ratification of the Bill of KUHP and KUHAP are considered to weaken the KPK. The bill is considered biased, because the constituent is the people involved in corruption cases, the indication to remove the authority of KPK, and brief penalties for the criminals. The plan of this bill will be passed before the DPR 2009-2014 period expires, i.e. September 2014. This petition gathers 21.231 supporters and manage `to postpone the discussion of the bill in the DPR plenary meeting in 2014. Reflecting on the case, a petition on the change.org managed to attract the attention of the policy makers, until finally the discussion related to the bill is delayed in the period.
Thus, change.org is not an institution to advocate policies, but a social forum to facilitate the people. The final decision of the petition depends on the policy makers. As in the political field that has been exemplified above, Setya Novanto cases and KPK bill, people can only urge, as part of the proposed democratic political participation, but in the end, it depends on the policy makers. In conclusion, Change.org is considered effective in efforts to make the public and policy makers realize of these issues.
[1] BBC Indonesia, Ketua DPR, Setya Novanto, akhirnya mengundurkan diri, 16 Desember 2015, < http://www.bbc.com/indonesia/berita_indonesia/2015/12/151216_indonesia_setya_novanto>, accesed 28 Maret 2016.
