Jakarta, ThedailyID — Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) has denied claims that it restricted social media posts about forest and land fires, known locally as karhutla.
The controversy emerged after several users suspected the government of limiting posts that criticized the wildfire situation. Some users reported unusually low views, likes, and comments.
Safriansyah Yanwar Rosyadi, director of digital space control at Komdigi, rejected the allegations. He said the ministry had never asked platforms to restrict or remove wildfire-related content.
“We emphasize that Komdigi has never instructed or requested platforms to restrict or remove content related to forest fires,” Safriansyah said on Tuesday, October 20, as quoted by Detikcom.
He explained that each platform uses its own community guidelines and content recommendation systems. Therefore, users should investigate suspected cases and confirm the causes directly with the relevant platforms.
“If content is suspected of experiencing reduced reach or being removed, the cause needs to be investigated based on the facts and confirmed with the relevant platform,” he added.
The shadowban debate intensified after several public figures reported unusual changes in their social media engagement following posts about wildfires across Indonesia.
Beauty vlogger Tasya Farasya, who has 7.4 million Instagram followers, reported a sharp drop in her Instagram Stories views. She said her stories usually reached one million views, but the figure fell to around 85,000.
“Stories aku biasanya VS story aku saat speak up,” Tasya wrote on Threads. She also shared screenshots comparing her usual views with those of her posts about the fires.
However, influencer Jerome Polin reported a different experience. He said his Instagram Stories had not experienced shadowbanning and could still reach a wide audience.
“I don’t know exactly how it works, but from what I’ve observed and studied, using the ‘Add Yours’ template can boost views,” Jerome wrote on Threads.
The contrasting experiences have fueled debate about social media algorithms and content visibility. However, Komdigi maintains that it never requested restrictions on wildfire-related posts. The cause of any alleged reduction in reach remains unverified.
