The Infrastructure of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Public Opinion Manipulation Through Social Media in Indonesia

Abstract

Coordinated influence campaigns on social media have become an increasingly important tool for political and economic elites to sway public opinion in their favor. As the study of this phenomenon has so far largely focused on traces of such campaigns on social media itself, we know relatively little about the people and networks implementing them. Furthermore, existing literature offers limited analytical handles to delineate and analyze different forms of influence operations. To address these challenges, we employ interviews with fifty-two members of the “cyber troops” implementing such operations in Indonesia. On the basis of this material, we propose that three key features—being secretly funded, highly coordinated, and involving mostly anonymous accounts—distinguish cyber troops from other types of domestic influence operations. In Indonesia cyber troops involve transient, project-based collaborations among freelancing individuals, not coincidentally mirroring the character of the country’s election campaigns. This rapidly growing industry is cementing the already oligarchic character of Indonesia’s democracy.

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