Meme Generation Fights Militarization: Youth Protest in Prabowo’s Indonesia
Yatun Sastramidjaja, author
Date of publication:
2026
Publisher:
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Number of pages:
24
Code:
TRS21/26
Soft Cover
ISBN: 9789815361865
About the publication
- Between August 2024 and September 2025, Indonesia witnessed a series of hashtag-driven mass student and youth protests. They initially focused on the dynastic politics of former President Jokowi but quickly targeted President Prabowo’s systematic militarization of governance. The revised TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) Law—which allows active-duty military officers to hold civilian government positions—crystallized grievances about Prabowo’s military-run flagship programmes and defence spending.
- Underlying the specific policy disputes was a deeper political diagnosis: that Indonesia’s “polycrisis”—intersecting economic decline, democratic erosion and institutional dysfunction—is ultimately a crisis of authoritarian governance, not merely of policy. Activists articulated militarism not as an isolated agenda but as the enabling mechanism for broader power abuse.
- Socioeconomic anxiety found expression in the viral hashtag #KaburAjaDulu, “just flee (the country) first”, which exposed a deepening trust crisis between youth and government. That frustration detonated in August 2025 when legislators’ lavish allowances and the killing of a ride-hailing motorcyclist by an armoured police vehicle ignited the most significant popular unrest since 1998.
- Social media was structurally central to the protests, linking discrete waves of mobilization, bridging class divisions and sustaining diaspora participation. Memeified symbols created affective solidarity: the Jolly Roger from the anime One Piece unified truck drivers and students; “resistance blue”, “hero green” and “brave pink” wove disparate protest moments into a single visual narrative of ongoing struggle.
- Digital repression intensified—including prosecution of activists and ordinary netizens for posting “inflammatory” content on social media and the temporary suspension of TikTok and Instagram livestreaming—yet failed to produce the expected chilling effect. Youth adapted swiftly, migrating to Roblox to re-enact protests and share information, illustrating the movement’s tactical flexibility.
- The protest movement has emboldened ordinary Indonesians to openly criticize government programmes on social media, and the rhizomatic movement—nurtured on campuses, in activist spaces and among the diaspora—remains poised to re-emerge.
Contents
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Meme Generation Fights Militarization: Youth Protest in Prabowo’s Indonesia
[Whole Publication], by Yatun Sastramidjaja, author
