TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SafeNet) on Tuesday revealed that a study strongly suggests that the situation of digital rights in Indonesia nosedived based on three aspects: the right to access the internet, the right to express oneself, and the rights on a sense of security.

Based on the observation throughout 2022, contained in the Digital Rights Situation Report, stated there were at least 36 major internet access issues.

“Papua remains to be the region most affected by internet access disconnection,” said Andreas Takimai, SAFEnet volunteer and researcher in a written statement on June 27.

Based on the aspect of freedom of expression, 2022 saw at least 97 cases of criminalization of expression in the digital realm with 107 people being reported. This number has tripled compared to 2021, which logged 30 cases with 38 victims of criminalization.

SAFEnet stated that this sudden increase placed 2022 as the year with the most legal sentencing in the past 9 years.

Another indicator representing the deteriorating digital rights is the rise of digital attacks, which reached 302 cases. This has increased compared to the previous two years, namely 147 incidents in 2020 and 193 incidents in 2021.

Apart from digital attacks and personal data leaks, the fall of digital rights is also still evident from the rise of Online Gender-Based Violence or GBV, which initially logged 689 complaints in 2022, which was an increase of 21 cases compared to 2021.

"One of the things to watch out for from the rise of online GBV cases is the growing victims among children," Andi said.

Combine Program Manager Ferdhi Putra also said that the digital rights situation also faces many challenges on the local scale. Among them is the uneven distribution of Internet access in a multitude of regions.

Apart from that, digital attacks have been rife against activists, including in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Ferdhi pointed out a Tempo journalist in Yogyakarta who had received intimidation via text messages from a certain group because of his coverage of intolerance cases in Kulon Progo. Another incident was the hacking of social media and WhatsApp accounts of residents of Wadas, Purworejo, who were fighting against the stone mining in their village.

ERWIN PRIMA

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