Jokowi Comments on Prabowo's Plan to Create Cyber Military Force

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo responded positively to the idea of establishing a cyber force within the Indonesian Military (TNI). He noted that in the context of defense, several countries already possess their own cyber forces.

“Yes, That’s a great idea,” he said in a press statement at the State Palace in the Nusantara Capital (IKN), East Kalimantan, on Thursday, September 12, as quoted from a video received by Tempo. “I believe that eventually, all nations will move in this direction, including Indonesia. But, I think it would be more appropriate for the new government under President Prabowo Subianto to take the lead in this endeavor.”

The discourse on forming a cyber force as the fourth dimension was first introduced by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker, Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet), during a state speech at the MPR annual session on Friday, August 16, 2024. 

“It is time for Indonesia to immediately prepare to establish the fourth dimension of the Indonesian national army,” Bamsoet declared.

TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto subsequently announced that he had received orders from Jokowi to create a cyber force as the fourth dimension within the TNI institution. Agus indicated that the cyber unit would likely be composed primarily of civilians with qualified information technology (IT) skills.

Agus explained that the TNI currently has existing cyber units. Nevertheless, the formation of a specialized cyber dimension remains under consideration. “We are currently evaluating the existing cyber unit,” Agus said at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Military observer and Co-Founder of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS), Khairul Fahmi, emphasized the government's need to ensure that the establishment of the TNI Cyber Force does not threaten the privacy rights of the general public.

“To safeguard the freedom and privacy rights of citizens, it is imperative to establish clear and comprehensive regulations governing the existence of this cyber dimension,” Fahmi asserted in a statement received in Jakarta last Thursday, as reported by Antara.

According to Fahmi, the primary function of the cyber force as the fourth dimension of the TNI is to anticipate cyber attacks from both state and external entities. These activities, Fahmi continued, must be conducted transparently to avoid overstepping boundaries and threatening public freedom in the cyber realm. Therefore, he considered it essential to have clear laws regulating the operational procedures of the TNI Cyber Force.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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