Abstract

The growth of social media in Indonesia has contributed to the increasing number of online political participation by the public. This phenomenon has brought forward the discussion regarding the pros and cons of online political participation, related to the participants’ identity. The lack of traceability regarding the participants’ identity has posed some questions, some of which are the accountability and legitimacy of opinions that are found on online political discussions.This research seeks to achieve comprehensive understanding on anonymity in political participation. By applying the theory of online disinhibition effect, this research attempts to explain the dynamic of anonymity, its implication towards political participation in social media, and to examine the consequences of anonymity towards the quality of digital democracy. Through survey, focus group discussions, and in depth interviews, this research address to achieve a comprehensive understanding towards the issues. The research findings show that the varied degrees of anonymity employed by citizens affect their social media usage and political participation. In addition, anonymity can be understood as the citizens’ coping mechanism from various possible consequences, such as legal and social retribution for both personal and professional context.

Highlights

  • As internet penetration has increased in Indonesia, the number of social media users has increased

  • This research measured the degree of anonymity through the extent to which social media users, as respondents, identify themselves through their accounts, i.e. if they use their genuine identities, pseudonyms, or anonyms

  • During the focus group discussion (FGD), one informant who claimed to be an active political buzzer admitted that pseudonymity is a main tool for buzzers, who alter their identities when they have to assume their roles in order to work for several ‘clients’ simultaneously

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Summary

Introduction

As internet penetration has increased in Indonesia, the number of social media users has increased. 186 Online Political Participation and Netizen Anonymity in Indonesia’s Digital Democracy a report on a survey conducted by We Are Social and Hootsuite in 2018, Indonesia places high—far above the global average—in certain categories of internet usage (Kemp, 2018). These categories include the number of social media account, annual growth of social media users, percentage of internet penetration, as well as hours spent on the internet. Political participation needs to be viewed as something beyond the activities directed towards the government, as most of the time it involves many other actors, including political parties, media, as well as the public

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