September 10, 2025 | 06:55 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) has recorded 23 cases of violence against journalists in various regions during the widespread protests from August 25 to 31, 2025. The team, consisting of several civil society organizations, monitored various cases of violence during the demonstrations, including those against journalists.
"At least based on our monitoring, there were 23 (cases of violence against) journalists nationwide," said TAUD representative Wildanu Syahril Guntur during a press conference at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) building in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
These cases were spread across different regions: six cases in Medan, two in Bali, seven in Jakarta, and eight in Jambi.
The violence manifested in obstruction of coverage or journalistic work, as well as violence against journalists conducting live reporting or streaming on social media.
In addition to obstruction and physical violence, TAUD also noted attempts to obstruct journalism in the digital space. "There were attempts to block journalists' live TikTok accounts," said Guntur, a public attorney at LBH Pers (Legal Aid Foundation for the Press).
During the height of protests in various regions, TikTok temporarily froze its live streaming feature specifically for users in Indonesia. TikTok "voluntarily" restricted the feature "due to escalating violence during protests in Indonesia," according to a statement from a TikTok spokesperson to AFP, as reported by The Economic Times on Saturday, August 30, 2025.
The Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), an organization advocating for digital rights, viewed this as an effort to restrict information. "We noted this as a restriction of information access, as TikTok live is used by netizens to receive (information about) what was happening during the protests at that time," said Balqis Zakiyyah, Legal and Policy Analyst of the Freedom of Expression Division at SAFEnet.
Overall, TAUD documented 369 cases of various civil rights violations occurring during the August 2025 demonstrations, including arbitrary arrests, violent arrests, and digital rights violations.
TAUD gathered data from reports received through a hotline opened from August 25 to September 8, 2025. In addition, TAUD also conducted direct monitoring in Jakarta and its surrounding areas, and received complaints through the assistance hotline of SAFEnet.
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