A pro-government disinformation campaign on Indonesian Papua

Abstract

This research identifies an Indonesian-language Twitter disinformation campaign posting pro-government materials on Indonesian governance in Papua, site of a protracted ethno-nationalist, pro-independence insurgency. Curiously, the campaign does not employ common disinformation tactics such as hashtag flooding or the posting of clickbait with high engagement potential, nor does it seek to build user profiles that would make the accounts posting this material appear as important participants in a debate over Papua’s status. The campaign simply employs synchronous, duplicate posts by ostensibly distinct authors to ensure that a significant proportion of posts mentioning contentious special aut..