AI in classrooms: policy ambition meets fiscal reality
Recently, the government issued a joint decree signed by seven ministries that provides guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in the education sector. The policy is intended to ensure that the technology is used responsibly while protecting children from potential digital risks.
Acid attack on Andrie Yunus and shrinking civic space
The acid attack on KontraS activist Andrie Yunus in Jakarta on March 12 has once again forced citizens to confront a troubling question: how safe is civic space in the country’s democracy? Yunus, the deputy coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), was reportedly attacked by two unidentified assailants while riding his motorcycle in the Salemba area shortly after attending a public discussion on militarism and judicial review. The attack left him with serious burns and hospitalized in intensive care.
The State of Dissent in Indonesia
Less than two years into the presidency of Prabowo Subianto, alleged intimidation of vocal civilians is becoming alarmingly common. The latest example is the acid attack on Andrie Yunus, an activist from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS). This incident exposes not only an old, familiar pattern, but also the crippled state of Indonesian politics that sustains it.
Anti-disinformation bill: Protecting truth or policing speech?
Government is once again preparing a new legal instrument to regulate the digital space. This time, the proposal comes in the form of an anti-disinformation bill, which officials say will target false information circulating on social media rather than mainstream media organizations. The government argues that such legislation is necessary to protect the public from hoaxes, propaganda and coordinated manipulation campaigns in the online sphere.
How Jokowi’s diploma controversy survived for a decade
Few political controversies in Indonesia have proven as resilient as the debate over Jokowi’s university diploma. First emerging during the 2014 presidential election, the allegation that Jokowi’s degree from the Forestry Faculty of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) was fabricated has resurfaced repeatedly over the past decade. Courts, the police and the university itself have repeatedly stated that Jokowi graduated legitimately in 1985. Yet the controversy refuses to disappear, illustrating how political narratives—once embedded in the public sphere—can acquire a life of their own.
Slow return of common sense
The most important thing is not the answer, but the question itself. In the world of check-and-balances, it is the fiduciary responsibility of lawmakers to raise questions, while those in the executive branch are expected to provide answers. Unfortunately, less questions have been raised by Indonesian lawmakers in the past few years, transforming the House of Representatives (DPR) into a rubber-stamp parliament.
Presidential envoys and the shadow of crony capitalism in SOEs
The government’s plan to appoint special presidential envoys to supervise state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been presented as a necessary step to strengthen oversight of companies that manage some of the country’s most strategic assets. President Prabowo Subianto argued that tighter monitoring is essential because many SOEs operate through complex networks of subsidiaries that are difficult to supervise.
Recurring problems in the MBG program
Another day, another problem in the implementation of MBG. Reports of raw, marinated catfish appearing on its Ramadan menu in Pamekasan, East Java, are the most recent example. Although technical guidelines from the BGN are already in place, it seems like partners still rely on their own creativity when deciding what to serve the recipients.
Crony capitalism in BAZNAS
Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (BAZNAS), has long been positioned as a bridge between Islamic philanthropy and national welfare policy. Yet the composition of its newly installed leadership for the 2026–2031 term raises an uncomfortable question: Is the country’s largest charity body drifting toward a political ecosystem where charity, bureaucracy and patronage intersect?
Who really controls financial watchdog?
Indonesia’s financial sector stands at a critical juncture as the House of Representatives (DPR) conducts fit and proper tests for candidates to lead the Financial Services Authority (OJK). While the process is formally designed to select the most capable technocrats, the composition of the candidate list reveals something deeper: the next leadership of Indonesia’s financial watchdog will likely emerge from a delicate balance of institutional power between the Finance Ministry, the central bank and the regulator itself.