Indonesia’s presidential candidates are posting light content on social media in a push to appeal to young voters, dressing up like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, organizing dance contests or forgetting to turn off a livestream.
In a country where millennials and Gen-Zers make up more than half the electorate, candidates Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto and former provincial governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo’s ages range from 54 to 72.
With the power to swing Indonesia’s youth vote, TikTok, Instagram and other platforms have become crucial tools in the arsenal of those vying to replace Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Photo: AFP
Indonesia is home to 278 million people, and 125 million are on TikTok alone.
“Today, the battlezone is on TikTok,” Angga Putra Fidrian of Baswedan’s presidential team said.
Facebook and Twitter were the dominant platforms in the 2019 election, but this time around the Chinese-owned app has become dominant.
After the first vice presidential debate last month, clips from the broadcast were viewed 300 million times in 12 hours on TikTok, with three-quarters uploaded by candidate-linked users, analyst Hokky Situngkir of social research institute Bandung Fe said.
Videos of 72-year-old front-runner Subianto dancing have flooded Indonesian social media accounts, transforming his image from a retired general accused by non-governmental organizations of ordering the abduction of democracy activists in the late 1990s to “cute grandpa.”
His campaign for the presidency has held dance competitions to mimic him, offering a prize of hundreds of millions of rupiah (thousands of US dollars).
“I see this phenomenon as a natural one,” Subianto’s digital campaign coordinator Anthony Leong said, adding that about 15,000 people are supporting his online campaign.
Baswedan, second in the polls, has gone viral for holding two TikTok livestreams — and endearing supporters by showing confusion over how to turn off the broadcast.
It earned him the new nickname “online father” from his audience.
“We don’t need him to appear in a complicated way, just be himself as usual,” Fidrian said.
Pranowo, who was already active on Instagram and TikTok during his two terms as Central Java governor, has engaged in streaming duets with other prominent political figures and local TikTok influencers.
After the second presidential debate this month, the silver-haired candidate went live on TikTok dressed in a green military bomber jacket, posing like Tom Cruise from his film franchise Top Gun.
It is not only presidential candidates using social media for their campaigns. At a house in Tangerang, just west of Jakarta, a local councilor candidate was joined by a group of women to craft a TikTok video for his campaign linked to Pranowo’s party.
One took center stage shouting: “Move aside, everyone! My candidate will never get you bored!” to laughs and cheers as the spotlight turned to the councilor.
The clips were put to an upbeat soundtrack and uploaded the next day, capturing thousands of views within hours.
“Using social media to campaign is more cost efficient... so our campaigning messages can go directly to their hands,” said Ukon Furkon Sukanda, a legislative candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
However, some young Indonesians say they are looking for more serious content to help inform their electoral choices.
“I want a comparison, what’s good about this candidate, what’s good about that candidate,” said Annisa Ayu Shafira, a 21-year-old university student.
While scores of videos making the rounds appear to be made by followers with no connection to the campaign, some Indonesians suspect much of the content they are seeing was paid for.
“Who is genuine? Who is pretending to be genuine? I am often confused because there are so many buzzers,” said 17-year-old Nurul Lathifatul Azizah, who will be voting for the first time.
Paid or not, the social media rewards are ultimately worth it for the candidates seeking office.
“In 2024, whoever dominates TikTok will win all of the social competition,” Situngkir said.
“Whether it is business, political competition, or the election,” he said.
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) attended a grand ceremony in Lhasa yesterday during a rare visit to Tibet, where he urged “ethnic unity and religious harmony” in a region where China is accused of human rights abuses. The vast high-altitude area on the country’s western edge, established as an autonomous region in 1965 — six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile — was once a hotbed for protest against Chinese Communist Party rule. Rights groups accuse Beijing’s leaders of suppressing Tibetan culture and imposing massive surveillance, although authorities claim their policies have fostered stability and rapid economic development in
RSS