Kominfo Asserts No Involvement in Suspension of Wadas Melawan Account

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Communications and Informatics (Kominfo) Johnny Gerard Plate asserted that his side did not take part in the suspension of a Twitter account @wadas_melawan that calls to fight against natural exploitation in Wadas Village, Bener District, Central Java. 

When asked for confirmation regarding the account suspension, Johnny implied that his side handed the issue entirely to Twitter as the platform provider. “Each digital platform has its own code of conduct,” Johnny told Tempo on Thursday, Feb. 17.

He also underlined that the ministry had never asked Twitter to suspend the account and claimed he had asked for confirmation from the internal ministry. “I will be notified if there is more detailed information,” he added.

The Twitter account of the environmental movement in Wadas Village dubbed GEMPADEWA (Gerakan Masyarakat Peduli Alam Desa Wadas) had been suspended since last Wednesday.

The advocate representing the Coalition for Justice GEMPADEWA Julian Duwi Prasetya condemned the act. “This is clearly an attempt to silence critical voices from the community,” said Julian.

The incident of violence occurred during a land survey for the andesite mining plan at the Bener Dam project site, on Feb. 8, 2022. Two days ago, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in its initial findings found that the police committed violence against Wadas residents.

According to Julian, the account had also been hacked several times. A few days ago, the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute's (LBH Yogyakarta) Instagram account was also inaccessible on Tuesday, Feb. 8, after uploading videos about the arrest of Wadas villagers by the police.

Read: Wadas Incident; IPW Asks for Removal of Central Java Police Chief

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH