If TaniHub Can Be Prosecuted, Why Not the State-Owned Investors?
Indonesia may have quietly entered a new chapter in its anti-corruption campaign. The prosecution of three TaniHub companies marks one of the country’s clearest applications of corporate criminal liability against a technology startup. Prosecutors are no longer satisfied with sending executives to prison. They now argue that the corporations themselves should pay nearly Rp360 billion because they allegedly benefited from corruption.
Public discourse arround Nadiem Makarim’s case
Nadiem Makarim, the former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, was found guilty in a corruption case related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his tenure. As soon as the verdict was announced, social media erupted with various reactions. The debate that followed, however, quickly went beyond the courtroom. It was no longer just about the verdict itself, but also about Nadiem as a public figure.
The Politics of Defining National Threats
Through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 111/2025 on the General Defense Policy 2025–2029, President Prabowo Subianto’s administration classifies the “spread of LGBTQ culture” as a non-military threat alongside terrorism, separatism, radicalism, cyberattacks, narcotics trafficking, illegal online gambling, illegal loans, economic crises, and natural disasters.
The corruption case of Langkat Regent
The arrest of Langkat Regent Syah Afandin marks an unsettling milestone. He is the tenth regional leader implicated in corruption cases in just the first half of 2026. Instead of being an exception, corruption among elected local officials is beginning to look like a recurring feature of Indonesia’s decentralization, raising an uncomfortable question: how many arrests will it take before the system, rather than merely the individuals, is reformed?
The arrest of Syah Afandin
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has just arrested Syah Afandin, regent of Langkat in North Sumatra province, days after Suhardiman Amby, regent of Kuantan Singingi in Riau province, surrendered to the anti-graft agency.
One Data, One State? The Risks of Digital Centralization
Indonesia’s proposed One Data Bill is being presented as a long-overdue solution to a familiar problem: fragmented government databases. Ministries often produce conflicting figures on poverty, education, agriculture, and social assistance, undermining policy effectiveness and wasting public resources. Few would dispute that better data governance is urgently needed.
The Kuansing case
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) alleges that Kuantan Singingi Regent Suhardiman Amby demanded a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 GR-S worth around Rp2.05 billion in connection with the appointment of a regional secretary (sekda). Investigators also allege that years earlier, another promotion involving the same official was accompanied by the delivery of a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport valued at roughly Rp700 million. The allegations remain before the courts, but they paint a troubling picture: as the strategic value of the office increased, so did its alleged price.
The Nadiem verdict and the dangerous precedent for public policy
On Tuesday, Corruption Court handed former education minister Nadiem Makarim a 10-year prison sentence over the procurement of Chromebook laptops during the pandemic. The ruling immediately became one of the most consequential corruption verdicts in recent years—not only because it involved one of Indonesia’s most recognizable technology entrepreneurs, but because of the legal principles the court chose to establish.
The Controversy of Cybersecurity Draft Bill
The latest Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Bill (RUU KKS) has reignited a familiar dilemma: how can the state strengthen its cyber defenses without expanding its power to monitor citizens? The controversy is not about whether Indonesia needs a cybersecurity law. It unquestionably does. The real debate is whether several provisions in the bill grant authorities broad surveillance powers without providing equally robust safeguards against abuse.
Another agency is not the answer
Indonesia has become remarkably adept at creating new institutions whenever governance problems emerge. When coordination falters, the instinct is to establish a coordinating body. When regulations overlap, the answer is often another agency. The proposal to establish the National Industrial Estate Agency (BKIN) under the ongoing Industrial Estate Bill is the latest example of this bureaucratic reflex.