Political Conflict in the Digital Age: The Relationship Between President Joko Widodo and the “Jokowi Haters” Group Amid the Controversy Over the Fake Diploma Issue
Downloads
This study examines political conflict in Indonesia’s digital era through the controversy surrounding President Joko Widodo’s alleged fake diploma and the emergence of the “Jokowi Haters” group. The rapid growth of social media has transformed political communication, enabling the spread of polarization, delegitimization, and identity-based conflict in online public spaces. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the development of political conflict in the digital sphere, explain the function of the fake diploma issue as a delegitimization strategy, and identify the role of social media in intensifying political polarization. This study employed a qualitative approach using a case study method. Data were collected through analysis of online news reports, social media content, legal documents, official clarifications, and relevant literature. The analysis applied social conflict theory, media framing theory, spiral of silence theory, and echo chamber theory to interpret the phenomenon comprehensively. The findings reveal that the fake diploma issue functions not merely as a legal controversy but as a political instrument used to undermine presidential legitimacy and public trust. Social media algorithms strengthen echo chambers by continuously exposing users to reinforcing narratives, while negative sentiment dominates digital discourse. In conclusion, digital political conflict in Indonesia increasingly relies on personal narratives and symbolic attacks, which threaten democratic stability, institutional trust, and constructive public debate.
Arsy, M. (2025). Penerapan sanksi pidana pelaku penyebaran berita hoaks (deepfake) dalam perspektif hukum pidana Islam (Studi kasus Putusan Nomor 125/Pid.Sus/2019/PN Bjn) [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Raden Fatah Palembang].
Astuti, W. T., & Mulyadi, A. (2025). Selected political hoax cases on social media: Multimodal forensic linguistics. Policy & Governance Review, 9(1), 44–63.
Ayudha, N. T., & Mahendra, R. E. (2025). Reactive democracy: State disinformation, polarization, and the double-edged sword of social media in Indonesia. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Contemporary Sociology and Educational Transformation (ICCSET 2025) (pp. 170–177). Atlantis Press.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Herdiansah, A. G., Sumadinata, R. W. S., & Pratisti, A. (2026). Muslim-based parties and the strategic use of polarization in Indonesia's multiparty politics after 2014. JWP (Jurnal Wacana Politik), 11(1).
Idris, J. (2025). Strategi delegitimasi aktor kebijakan dalam pemerintahan Prabowo: Studi kasus tuduhan terhadap Sufmi Dasco Ahmad. Suara Karya.
Institute of Development Studies. (2025). Identity-based narratives fuelling rise in autocracy. IDS Bulletin, 56(2).
Irawati, D. (2025). Konten viral ala Resbob: Ekonomi perhatian dan hilangnya tanggung jawab sosial. Kompas.id. https://www.kompas.id/
Krismono, K. (2024). From accommodation to repression: The evolution of political Islam in democratic Indonesia during SBY and Jokowi presidencies. Politea, 7(2).
Mawardin. (2021, October 28). Melampaui polarisasi. Kompas.id. https://www.kompas.id/artikel/melampaui-polarisasi
Mustari, N. J. (2025). Skandal politik ijazah Presiden Joko Widodo: Tinjauan kritis dan dampaknya terhadap etika kepemimpinan di Indonesia. PublistikJI, 2(1).
NU Online Jawa Timur. (2025). Narasi penghinaan media dan marwah pesantren.
Pîrvulescu, C. (2025). Democratic Europe at a crossroads: Between resilience, hybrid warfare and algorithmic radicalisation. EESC Info.
Rahmawati, S. (2025). Isu ijazah Jokowi: “Re-run” yang tak pernah tamat. Magdalene.co. https://magdalene.co/story/isu-ijazah-jokowi-re-run-yang-tak-pernah-tamat
Samad, M. Y. (2026, January 21). “Buzzer” masih meresahkan, bagaimana kita melawannya? Magdalene.co. https://magdalene.co/story/tips-melawan-buzzer/
Setyawan, F. C., Aditya, M., Pratama, I. O., Purnama, I., Rihi Hina, B. J., Naibaho, N., Sukmawati, A., Seran, A. P., Makanoneng, J., Arsanto, H. W., & Tangkudung, A. G. (2024). Transformasi kepemimpinan nasional: Tantangan dan peluang di era globalisasi. Innovative: Journal of Social Science Research, 4(1), 6972–6983.
Sianipar, B., & Tangkudung, A. G. (2020). Tinjauan ekonomi, politik dan keamanan terhadap pengembangan food estate di Kalimantan Tengah sebagai alternatif menjaga ketahanan pangan di tengah pandemi Covid-19. Jurnal Keamanan Nasional, 6(2), 245–268.
Shrum, L. J. (2017). Cultivation theory: Effects and underlying processes. In P. Rössler, C. A. Hoffner, & L. van Zoonen (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of media effects. Wiley.
Sobari, W. (2025, October 13). Mendesain pilpres minim konflik dalam perspektif politik hukum ketatanegaraan di Indonesia. Jurnal Cakrawala Hukum, 5(2).
Wahyuanto, E. (2025, May 25). Gaduh ijazah palsu dan demokrasi digital. ANTARA News. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/4857733/gaduh-ijazah-palsu-dan-demokrasi-digital
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Copyright (c) 2026 Audrey G.D Tangkudung, Jemmy Y Kaseger, Robert Sagay
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
