"Understanding This Year Government's Effort to Eradicate Radicalism and to Maintain Cyber Security by Internship at Commission One of DPR RI"

Security is more complex than talking about high level politics discourse of military affairs. What arising in the 21st century is the urgency of securing human on cyber world. However, this far I live in ease with the internet and tend to neglect my own security on the internet with thought, 'the threats that the internet poses are not yet --at least for myself--- credible'.

From July -- August 2017, I fulfilled my internship course at Commission 1 of DPR RI to the vice chairperson of the commission also a Golkar politician, Member of Parliament (MP) Meutya Hafid. I had the best timing to work in the commission because at the time Indonesia was among the polemic of radical movements mainstreaming on social media. As the commission supervises defense, foreign, and information affairs, I was regularly helping my MP to counter these issues. Understanding and learning my tasks well, I realize that the internet is a real anarchic and it does pose credible threats.

My learning started when the issue of ISIS possessed many regions in Indonesia came over the radar. And it is followed by the blooming of mass organizations(OrMas) identified by the government as 'radical'. As mentioned, the most advanced part of nowadays' radical movements is that they held recruitment by social media ---if we ever heard that ISIS publicized tutorial of bomb creation online and recruits the intrigued audiences.

The issue brought me to casual talks with my MP, we both admit that it threatens the UU RI No. 19 tahun 2016 which regulates information and electronic transactions --or we are more familiar with UU ITE---which in Pasal 45A pronounced that everyone with or without rights to distribute information intended to spread hates and hostility based on ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup shall be imprisoned.[1]

As a legislative body, the first big deal for DPR RI --and also to put in the prior list of my MP---is to revise the PERPU ORMAS so that everything that the government poses towards Or Mas refers to the law. The revision is in tandem to a recent statement made by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) that they are going to make Indonesia a base of khilafah.[2] So far, HTI is a legal organization and never violates the law, but this one is a serious threat in accordance that the ideology they bring opposes Pancasila. The government should only protect OrMaswhich upholds the spirit of Pancasila.

In mid-July, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (KEMENKOMINFO) officially blocked the Telegram site due to the high activity of radical and terrorism contents. As KEMENKOMINFO serves as Commission 1 working partner, the commission is also in favor of their stance.

In an occasion, my MP has been interviewed with numbers of media, on behalf of the commission she supports the government's decisive action. She explained that today radical contents are not merely seen among online news sites but also on social media, by these platform terrorists are given chance to recruit approximately 500 persons per day, therefore only by media literacy we can't be entrapped. 

In addition, she appealed all social media enterprises to support government's effort on pulling-back hoax that will trigger polemic within society. However the fault is not on Telegram the site, if there hatched commitment and improvement of attitude, my MP thinks that the government could unblock this site.[3]

On the other hand, during recess My MP was going to her electoral district in North Sumatra and giving seminars in local high schools about the urgency to fight radical movements, I helped her preparing the substances. Fighting back radicalism, or known as deradicalization, is an effort to change fundamentalist paradigm becomes more tolerant, pluralist, moderated and liberated.[4] The seminar departs from the fact according to Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme (BNPT),by July 2017 about 7,7% Indonesians agreed to radicalism, while 0,4% have committed to radical actions --this result is yielded from people across various backgrounds and educational levels.[5]

We then explained serious efforts done by the government. In July 7th, at G20 Summit in Hamburg President Jokowi claimed that armament and military forces are not enough to eradicate terrorism, therefore it is good to establish and continue exercising 'soft power' in the form of deradicalization.[6] Meanwhile, POLRI also tightening the cyber patrol which makes us unable to proceed on radical sites, General Tito Karnavian hopes that this will strengthen Indonesia's cyber defense.[7]

At last, changes come from ourselves. To put in our mind that to tackle Pancasila-opposing ideologies we have to be united. In a separated event, my MP delivered a speech titled 'Urgensi4 Pilar Kebangsaan dan TAP MPR'--the four-plus-one main life guidance that we must uphold as Indonesians which are Pancasila as the eminence, and followed by UUD 1945, NKRI, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, and TAP MPR.

At the end of my internship, I stepped away from Senayan by means --for a small part I helped my MP to fix this nation, and from now I am aware of the urgency to securitized --at least---myself on cyber activities.