In this connectedness-rich era, we are often not only a citizen of a nation or a resident of a neighbourhood - we are also a ‘resident’ of the web. Online, we have the opportunity to access entertainment, seek knowledge, but also to engage in activities that might endanger ourselves and others.
Therefore, it seems only natural that the social media world establishes rules and retributions for certain things, such as scams, hate speech or pornography. The next question, however, is who should be in charge of making those rules - the state or companies owning social media, such as TikTok or Meta? Furthermore, what if we disagree with those rules?
SBS Indonesian chats with Dr. Ika Idris, a researcher on social media and public policy currently working at Monash University, and Dr. Eka Nugraha Putra, a researcher at Centre for Trusted Internet and Community at the National University of Singapore, about the dynamics of rules governing the online world, from content restrictions, account deletions, and feature suspensions, such as the ‘Live’ feature in TikTok in Indonesia during the wave of protests in multiple locations in August 2025.
Listen to the full podcast.
