On 8 February, President Joko Widodo made a call for more criticisms of his government from society. Ironically, his call was met with a shower of criticisms that many people had been charged and jailed precisely for making criticisms, under the Law on Information and Technology (ITE Law) which regulates social media content. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) stated the police “misused criminal provisions” against people who had made criticisms. Amnesty International recorded 119 cases of alleged violations of freedom of expression involving 141 accused under the ITE Law, calling on the President to release them all.

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