The Internet in Indonesia's new democracy

Abstract

The most abiding image of the Indonesian struggle for independence from the Dutch is that of the steely-eyed young (usually male) revolutionary (pemuda), his long black hair tied back in the red-and-white colours of the Indonesian flag, clutching a sharpened bamboo spear. The image of the pemuda still adorns public memorials across the archipelago, representing the romantic revolutionary youth. In May 1998 the pemuda were again out in force on the streets of Indonesia, long-haired, and nationalism's familiar red-and-white still around their forehead. But for the students who spear-headed the fall of the former general, Suharto, after 32 years in the presidency, '[I]nstead of fighting with bamboo spears, swords, guns or tanks, they used banners, placards, the mass media and the Internet'. The movement to overthrow Suharto 'was the first revolution using the Internet'.