UII Lecturer: Terror Against UGM Student Body Chairman Attacks Academic Autonomy
Professor Masduki, a distinguished scholar of media and journalism studies at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), has assessed that the series of terror threats against Tiyo Ardianto, Chairman of the Student Executive Body (BEM) of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, represents a critical moment for universities to defend academic freedom.
Masduki, who is also a member of the Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom (KIKA), urged UGM and universities across Indonesia to defend and uphold freedom of expression as part of academic autonomy. “The terror is a stark warning. Universities should collectively create a counter-narrative,” Masduki said during a KIKA online press conference on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.
Masduki assessed that the terror against Tiyo forms part of a state conspiracy to suppress criticism through digital platforms. The attacks demonstrate the poor state of digital security and personal data protection. He pointed to the increasingly weakened digital security environment, noting that misinformation intensifies whenever students and activists criticise government policies. “Tiyo is being continuously monitored digitally and his family’s private life is under attack,” Masduki said.
The founder of Forum Cik Di Tiro, a civil society movement in Yogyakarta, urged UGM to take an open and more progressive stance to protect Tiyo. The university should not merely view the attacks as criminal acts. According to Masduki, the terror against Tiyo constitutes an assault on academic autonomy and the integrity of higher education.
An open stance from universities is necessary to safeguard academic freedom. If universities fail to take a firm position, it could undermine their critical disposition. “It is disciplining to make universities comply with irrational government policies,” he said.
Masduki believes the terror is connected to the strengthening anti-criticism attitude of the Prabowo-Gibran administration. The terror, he said, cannot be separated from the authoritarian and militaristic nature of the Prabowo government.
In a democratic state, the government should listen to input from students who speak from conscience upon witnessing various injustices, he argued. The government could re-evaluate the free nutritious meals (MBG) programme by providing scholarships for impoverished students in underdeveloped regions instead.
BEM UGM Chairman Tiyo Ardianto had expressed the student body’s protest against Prabowo by sending an open letter to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). BEM dispatched the letter on 6 February 2026 in response to the tragedy of a primary school student who committed suicide in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), allegedly because the child could not afford a pen and school books costing less than Rp 10,000.
At the end of the letter, BEM UGM assessed that President Prabowo Subianto was blind to reality and unwilling to learn. “Emphatically, our important message to UNICEF: help us to tell Prabowo Subianto how stupid he is as president,” the message read.
The letter became a subject of public discussion and was widely debated on social media. According to Tiyo, the letter was not about Prabowo personally, but rather a critique of various public policies. “It is about Prabowo’s incompetent power infrastructure, not Prabowo personally,” Tiyo said during the KIKA online press conference on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.
Tiyo received terror threats after protesting against the Prabowo administration. He received threatening WhatsApp messages about kidnapping from a number with a British country code, four days after BEM criticised Prabowo. In addition to kidnapping threats, the perpetrator also sent messages accusing Tiyo of being a foreign agent and seeking the spotlight. “Foreign agent. Don’t seek the spotlight peddling rubbish narratives,” the message read.