Indonesia’s proposed revision to the Human Rights Law is officially described as an effort to modernize and strengthen the country’s human rights framework. Yet the growing backlash from activists, academics, and National Commission on Human Rights itself suggests a very different interpretation: the state may be weakening one of the last independent institutions capable of scrutinizing government power.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) plans to require users to provide mobile phone numbers when creating social media accounts. The objective is clear: to strengthen identity verification and enhance accountability for the content users share online. Yet the implications may extend far beyond its stated goals.

The revelation that former police general Ferdy Sambo is pursuing a Master’s degree in theology from prison has reopened an uncomfortable debate. Where exactly is the line between rehabilitation and privilege?

The government’s latest push to ban tribal warfare in Papua Pegunungan may sound, at first glance, like a reasonable attempt to stop violence. No modern state can simply tolerate recurring armed clashes that leave civilians dead, schools abandoned and communities displaced.

“We did not ban the screening of Pesta Babi.” That statement from Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendrawas intended to calm public controversy surrounding the documentary film. Instead, it exposed a deeper and increasingly visible problem inside democracy: the widening disconnect between official democratic rhetoric and the reality experienced by citizens on the ground.