Buzzer, Troll Farm, dan Propaganda Terkomputasi: Ekosistem Disinformasi Politik dalam Kontestasi Elektoral Indonesia

Abstrak

This study examined the ecosystem of political disinformation in Indonesia’s electoral contestation through the interaction of buzzers, troll farms, bots, and computational propaganda. The research aimed to map the structural architecture, operational mechanisms, and institutional implications of organized digital manipulation during the 2019 and 2024 Indonesian elections. A mixed methods approach was employed by integrating computational social network analysis, automated content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and in-depth interviews with 47 key informants, including buzzer operators, journalists, academics, election supervisors, and political consultants. The study analyzed 4.7 million social media posts collected from Twitter/X, Facebook, Telegram, and other digital platforms. The findings revealed a three-layered disinformation ecosystem consisting of content production, amplification, and microtargeting infrastructures. The study also demonstrated a significant evolution from manual and identity-based disinformation in 2019 toward AI-assisted, multi-platform, and data-driven propaganda operations in 2024. Furthermore, the research proposed the concept of a “twilight ecosystem” to explain the hybrid and market-driven nature of Indonesia’s computational propaganda industry. Existing regulatory and institutional responses were found insufficient to address the increasing sophistication of coordinated digital manipulation. The study recommended strengthening digital campaign transparency, AI-based detection systems, platform accountability, and digital literacy initiatives to protect electoral integrity in Indonesia.).