Participatory Propaganda and the Affordances of Digital Platforms: Explaining the Emergence of Far-Right Islamist Protest Mobilization in Indonesia

Abstract: The 2016 far-right Islamist demonstrations in Jakarta, known as the "Action to Defend Islam," are largely regarded as the largest in Indonesian history since the fall of Suharto in 1998. Despite being historically marginalized and operating largely outside mainstream politics, the farright Islamist movement was able to mobilize an extraordinarily large crowd. While some argue that the demonstrations indicate a growing anti-pluralist and illiberal sentiment among Indonesian Muslims, others credit social media for enabling the successful mobilization, comparable to its role in the Arab Spring. In this article, I argue that these demonstrations are best understood through the lens of participatory propaganda, facilitated by digital platforms. Departing from prior studies focusing on the Western world and specific political actors, this research examines the potential connection of participatory propaganda to protest movement mobilization. Identifying six digital tactics employed by far-right actors and supporters, I illustrate how they seed and shape participatory propaganda cascades, ultimately leading to and sustaining their mobilization. I posit that the unprecedented mobilization during the Jakarta election is not solely due to growing conservatism among Indonesians but is rather a result of the new information environment that has drastically altered the ways individuals engage with and are influenced by public information. By examining both social media content and delivery, the study reveals how digital media affordances enable varying degrees of awareness for propaganda, turning individuals into both producers and spreaders, ultimately unveiling a hybrid form of propaganda that illustrates the interplay of new and traditional media, as well as online and offline activism.