Criminalising free expression: Online crackdown haunts Indonesia protests
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Indonesian police have arrested more than 40 people they accuse of stoking riots with their posts online.
PHOTO: EPA
JAKARTA – The arrests of activists and netizens for posting content on social media that the police allege incited a string of protests and riots in Jakarta and other regions have raised concerns of criminalisation of the public’s freedom of expression.
Over the week, the police have arrested more than 40 people as part of their efforts to seek “provocateurs” behind the riots in Jakarta last week, which broke out amid public protests against lawmakers’ lavish perks.
