Analyst on personal attacks against President: Not part of criticism

The nation must be able to distinguish between criticism and what constitutes an insult.

Political analyst Ayip Tayana has expressed regret over the proliferation of negative content attacking President Prabowo Subianto personally on social media. According to him, although freedom of expression is guaranteed in a democracy, it is inappropriate for criticism to devolve into personal insults.

In a statement in Jakarta on Sunday, Ayip cited the example of the term narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) being attributed to President Prabowo. Ayip assessed that personal attacks which degrade a person’s dignity are not part of freedom of expression. He argued that criticism should instead target a President’s policies or actions, rather than merely stoking public anger.

‘There is no argumentation there, no responsibility; it is used solely to ignite emotions, to ignite anger, and that is its only purpose. Just to make other people angry with those statements,’ he said.

The problem, he continued, is that such content actually garners high interaction within society and is considered representative of public views. He believes this must be corrected amidst the rapid flow of information driven by social media and artificial intelligence (AI).

‘In Indonesia, content with a negative or emotional tone that attacks a particular political group tends to obtain high engagement. We must not let such things drag on. This democracy requires freedom of speech, but it also requires maturity and responsibility,’ he stated.

Ayip assessed that while such phenomena are indeed rampant on social media, they do not represent the entirety of public opinion. In terms of political legitimacy and the assessment of the majority of society, the opposite is true. ‘Electorally and constitutionally, Mr Prabowo won 58 percent in a single round against two candidates, which should have required two rounds. That is a very strong legitimacy,’ he said.

Furthermore, according to Ayip, President Prabowo’s approval rating is also high. The latest Poltracking survey shows that 74.2 percent of the public trust President Prabowo’s administration and 72.2 percent are satisfied with the government’s performance. ‘This means that these various survey results can be used as an indicator that public support and trust in President Prabowo’s administration remains at a majority level,’ he said.

Nevertheless, Ayip highlighted that a high satisfaction rate does not mean everyone is satisfied with all government policies. ‘Dissatisfaction with certain aspects certainly exists. If there is dissatisfaction with a particular programme or policy, it must serve as an evaluation for the government. This high satisfaction figure should be appreciated, but findings of dissatisfaction in specific sectors must also be used as evaluation material by the government,’ he said.