Twitter, Facebook suspend accounts linked to Indonesian Army's Propaganda on Papua campaign

Following Reuters investigation, more than 80 Twitter and Facebook accounts that linked them to pro-government's propaganda on Papua and was backed by the Indonesian army, have been suspended.

Banks can check loan applicant's social media account.

Banks can check loan applicant's social media account. Source: Reuters

Some of these accounts use profile photos or animations pretending to be Papuans or "Free Papua" activists.

And these accounts praised the TNI's approach to overcome the problem of separatism and also criticized supporters of the Papua Referendum.

Twitter has closed around 60 accounts using fake ID, which were flagged by Reuters, however Twitter spokesman declined to explain the reason for the closure.

Meanwhile, Facebook said it had closed "a number of accounts" marked by Reuters.

The reason for the closure was because it violated Facebook community standards.

Previously, Benjamin Strick, an Open Source investigator, has spoken to ABC and claimed that he has investigated all uploads on Twitter with the tags #WestPapua and #FreeWestPapua, between 29 August to 2 September last year and discovered a network bot accounts automatically spreads content supporting the Indonesian government through social networks.

"After being investigated they are all bots that promote Indonesian government activities in West Papua." said Benjamin to ABC.

As many as 10 sites in the network appear to be independent news outlets but Reuters' registration records and interviews with website editors and a special forces intelligence officer showed they are funded and coordinated by an Indonesian army corporal.

 

Last October, Facebook also closed fake accounts that posted content about the Free Papua Movement.

Indonesian military has not responded the request for comment.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

By SBS Indonesian

Source: Reuters, ABC Australia, SBS



Share this with family and friends


Follow SBS Indonesian

Download our apps
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Indonesian-speaking Australians.
Ease into the English language and Australian culture. We make learning English convenient, fun and practical.
Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS Indonesian News

SBS Indonesian News

Watch it onDemand