UNDERSTANDING CONTESTED NORMS ON INDONESIA’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

The report examines how Indonesia navigates the rivalry between US-led market-driven digital norms and China's government-centric approach. While Indonesia relies heavily on foreign hardware and cloud services, it leverages its democratic values, the Pancasila ideology, and an independent foreign policy to maintain agency. The study identifies a 'digital norms cycle' in Indonesia, moving from the emergence of norms via foreign 'norm entrepreneurs' to internalization through national frameworks, though it notes significant challenges in digital literacy, budget, and infrastructure.

• Indonesia's digital landscape is a site of competition between US norms of "multistakeholderism, openness and market-driven internet" and Chinese norms that "lean more toward government control of technology and information."
• Indonesia is a net importer of technology, with a significant reliance on China for electrical equipment and parts, which grew from approximately 40% in 2017 to approximately 60% by 2022.
• The Indonesian smartphone market is dominated by Chinese brands (OPPO, Xiaomi, Realme, and Vivo), which grew from around 40% market share in mid-2019 to around 60% in mid-2023.
• While hardware is dominated by China, US-based platforms maintain strong leverage in social media, with WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram remaining among the most popular platforms.
• Indonesia's reliance on foreign technology varies by sector: it is 'moderate' for digital applications and software, but 'relatively high' for telecommunications infrastructure, base transceiver stations (BTS), servers, and cloud services.
• Indonesia possesses 'inherent modalities' that enable it to shape its own digital norms, including robust democratic values, the state ideology of Pancasila, an "independent and active" foreign policy, a growing middle class, and the use of Bahasa Indonesia.
• The report identifies a 'digital norms cycle' in Indonesia: Stage 1 (emergence) driven by US and Chinese 'norm entrepreneurs'; Stage 2 (cascade) accelerated by the 2020 national digital transformation; and Stage 3 (internalization) through embedding in national doctrines.
• Significant challenges hinder Indonesia's digital sovereignty, including low digital literacy, 'contested sectoral ego' between ministries (such as MOCI and MLHR), and severe budget constraints for the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN).

APA

Fitriani, Dzakwan, M. H. A., & Shieryl, C. (2024). UNDERSTANDING CONTESTED NORMS ON INDONESIA’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/5bcfdd50-896f-4e49-aa8e-438600b929fb/Research_report_CSISPRIO.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Fitriani, Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, and Clarins Shieryl. UNDERSTANDING CONTESTED NORMS ON INDONESIA’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2024. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/5bcfdd50-896f-4e49-aa8e-438600b929fb/Research_report_CSISPRIO.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fitriani |last2=Dzakwan |first2=Muhammad Habib Abiyan |last3=Shieryl |first3=Clarins |title=UNDERSTANDING CONTESTED NORMS ON INDONESIA’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2024 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/5bcfdd50-896f-4e49-aa8e-438600b929fb/Research_report_CSISPRIO.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fitriani2024understanding, author = {Fitriani and Dzakwan, Muhammad Habib Abiyan and Shieryl, Clarins}, title = {{UNDERSTANDING CONTESTED NORMS ON INDONESIA’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/5bcfdd50-896f-4e49-aa8e-438600b929fb/Research_report_CSISPRIO.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }