In Indonesia, Facebook and Twitter are ‘buzzer’ battlegrounds as elections loom

Twitter and Facebook login pages. (Shutterstock)
Updated 13 March 2019
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In Indonesia, Facebook and Twitter are ‘buzzer’ battlegrounds as elections loom

  • ‘Buzzer’ teams, named for the social media buzz such groups aim to create, have sprung up in Indonesia ahead of the presidential election
  • Three buzzers directly involved in the current campaign described how they operate hundreds of personalized social media accounts each on behalf of the candidates

JAKARTA: Almost every day, “Janda,” a self-described Indonesian housewife with 2,000 Twitter followers, dispenses lifestyle tips, complains about city life, and praises how the government of President Joko Widodo has improved her life as a young mother.
But Janda the housewife does not exist. The Twitter account’s real owner is an unmarried middle-aged man who offers political social media services backing Widodo’s re-election campaign.
He is a leader of one of the many so called “buzzer” teams, named for the social media buzz such groups aim to create, that have sprung up in Indonesia ahead of the presidential election next month in the world’s third-largest democracy.
“Our battleground is social media. The content we are making for the election is reaching at least a million people per week,” said the owner of the Janda account, declining to be named because his work is legally in a gray area.
In interviews with Reuters, over a dozen buzzer team members, social media consultants and cyber experts described an array of social media operations that they said were spreading propaganda on behalf of both Widodo and his challenger, retired general Prabowo Subianto.
Widodo enjoys a comfortable lead in most opinion polls over Prabowo, as the challenger is widely known. The two contested the previous election in 2014 as well, and Widodo won narrowly.
Fake news was spread in that election as well, although social media was less far-reaching than it is now.
Under Indonesia’s broad Internet defamation law, creating and spreading fake news is illegal, but holding social media accounts in false names is not, unless a real person is being impersonated. Social media companies however mostly bar holding accounts under false names.
Three buzzers directly involved in the current campaign described how they operate hundreds of personalized social media accounts each on behalf of the candidates. One denied propagating fake news, while two said they didn’t care about the accuracy of the content.
Both campaign teams deny using buzzers or spreading fake news.
Ross Tapsell, an expert on politics and media at Australia National University, said that it has become normal for candiates in Southeast Asia to hire online campaign strategists, who in turn tap an army of people to spread content on social media.
“So there is no direct link at all to the candidate,” he said.
The buzzer campaigns have far outstripped the efforts of Facebook and other social media companies to curtail creation of fake accounts and spread fake news, cyber experts say. Reuters found that while robot accounts were occasionally deleted, personalized fake accounts like “Janda” are widespread on Twitter and Facebook platforms, despite violating the companies’ rules.
On the edge
Misinformation spread by real accounts — which are often coopted by buzzer teams — is rampant on Facebook as well as on its Instagram and WhatsApp affiliates and rival service Twitter. The companies say they are working with the government and fighting back against false content.
Representatives for Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp told Reuters they regularly delete fake accounts in Indonesia, but declined to share removal numbers.
A Twitter spokeswoman told Reuters it is working to remove networks of accounts engaged in misinformation and disinformation.
Facebook, which counts Indonesia as its third-largest market globally with an estimated 130 million accounts, says it trains election management bodies how to flag fake news to the company, which is then evaluated by moderators and deleted if it breaks its community standards.
For Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara, those efforts are not enough.
He said the government had asked social media companies to work with authorities to create a standard operating procedure that would allow fake news and hoaxes to be flagged and resolved. They have yet to comply.
“We expect it to get much worse as we get closer to the election,” said Harry Sufehmi, co-founder of Mafindo, an Indonesian organization fighting fake news, which listed nearly 500 social media hoaxes related to politics in 2018.
He was one of three experts whose research found that a larger proportion of the misinformation targets Widodo, with some posts depicting him as anti-Islam, a Chinese stooge or a communist.
All are inflammatory accusations in a country that has the world’s largest number of Muslims, where the communist party is banned and suspicions linger over the influence of Beijing.
A smaller portion of the misinformation campaigns target Prabowo.
Buzzing for money
On a recent afternoon in Jakarta, one buzzer team leader scrolled through two mobile phones that had over 250 Facebook , Instagram, Whatsapp, Youtube and Twitter accounts, each with a fake persona. He updated five of them with posts praising Widodo’s achievements or mocking Prabowo and his running mate.
He denied disseminating misinformation, focusing instead on content that gushed about his clients’s virtues. But he admitted he does look for dirt on opponents as part of a “complete package” of posts and videos that he sells for 200 million rupiah ($14,000) a month.
His staff of 15, whom he refers to as “cyber troops,” in turn have subcontractors, throughout Indonesia, many of whom are unaware of the ultimate identity of clients, he said.
He told Reuters he was hired by an adviser to Widodo’s campaign.
Ace Hasan Syadzily, a spokesman for the president’s campaign team, denied knowledge of such groups, but said “the campaign had an obligation to counter false or negative narratives” against Widodo.
Another buzzer said he had been hired by advisers to Prabowo, while the third said he supplied services to a social media agency used by both campaigns.
Anthony Leong, the Prabowo digital team’s coordinator, denied they use buzzer teams, noting that the campaign required its “10,000 digital volunteers” to use real names and only allowed them to post “positive content.”
“Work is fun“
According to the buzzers interviewed, a junior “cyber soldier” can be paid between 1 million to 50 million rupiah per project depending on the reach of his social media accounts.
“For a lot of us, the work is fun...and the salaries are decent,” said the buzzer who said he is a contractor for a social media agency used by both the Widodo and Prabowo campaigns.
He said his role was to create trending topics during key election moments, using hashtags and content provided by his agency in combination with his personal fake accounts, he said.
“For me, there’s no hoax or so-called negative content. The material just comes from the client,” he told Reuters.
Pradipa Rasidi, a researcher at the University of Indonesia, said most buzzers are young graduates who do it “because it’s hard to find a job after university and the pay is higher.”
But the legal risks are real. The buzzer activities are punishable by jail if they are judged to breach Indonesia’s Internet defamation law.
All three buzzers interviewed by Reuters declined to be named or provide certain details of their operations because of those risks.
Policing by the social media companies, however, was not a concern: None had ever had an account or post deleted.


Saudi’s Manga Productions, Japan’s KOEI TECMO announce new gaming partnership

Updated 17 June 2025
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Saudi’s Manga Productions, Japan’s KOEI TECMO announce new gaming partnership

  • Manga Productions licensed for Nioh 3 in Mideast, North Africa
  • Full Arabic support for region’s gamers, says CEO Essam Bukhary

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Manga Productions has announced a partnership with Japan’s KOEI TECMO as the publisher of the highly anticipated action game Nioh 3 in the Middle East and North Africa region.

According to a recent Saudi Press Agency report, the game is scheduled for release in early 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Steam.

Nioh 3 is the latest installment in the popular RPG series known for its mysterious samurai setting, earning widespread acclaim for its unique blend of Japanese mythology and intense combat.

The series has achieved global success, selling over 8 million copies worldwide. This new installment features an open-world environment and innovative combat system that allows players to switch between “samurai” and “ninja” fighting styles during battles.

As a part of this collaboration, Manga Productions will handle its Arabic translation, marketing and publishing for the Middle East and North Africa region.

Manga Productions, which is a subsidiary of the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation, will engage Saudi creators in the localization process to ensure a culturally relevant experience for Arabic-speaking gamers.

Dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, stated: “The launch of Nioh 3 with full Arabic support for gamers in the region is an additional step towards delivering world-class experiences while empowering Saudi talent at every stage of development.”

He added: “The trust we have earned from our global partners reflects Manga Productions’ capabilities in publishing, distribution, and marketing, as well as our continued success in professionally delivering high-quality content to audiences in the region while respecting local culture.”

Hisashi Koinuma, president and chief operating officer of KOEI TECMO, said the success of DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS has further strengthened the partnership with Manga Productions to bring Nioh 3 to Arabic-speaking gamers.

Abdulaziz Al-Naghmoush, head of business development and content licensing at Manga Productions, welcomed the pact.

“Following our collaboration on DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS, which was well-received for delivering a uniquely localized Arabic experience, we are now taking a new step with Nioh 3.”

He said the offering would be a “seamless, localized experience that makes players feel as if it was made especially for them from day one.”


WhatsApp to start showing ads to users in parts of the messaging app

A WhatsApp icon is displayed on an iPhone, Nov. 15, 2018, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (AP)
Updated 17 June 2025
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WhatsApp to start showing ads to users in parts of the messaging app

  • WhatsApp said ads will be targeted to users based on information like their age, the country or city where they’re located, the language they’re using, the channels they’re following in the app, and how they’re interacting with the ads they see

WhatsApp said Monday that users will start seeing ads in parts of the app, as owner Meta Platforms moves to cultivate a new revenue stream by tapping the billions of people that use the messaging service.
Advertisements will be shown only in the app’s Updates tab, which is used by as many as 1.5 billion people each day. However, they won’t appear where personal chats are located, developers said.
“The personal messaging experience on WhatsApp isn’t changing, and personal messages, calls and statuses are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be used to show ads,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.
It’s a big change for the company, whose founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton vowed to keep the platform free of ads when they created it in 2009.
Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 and the pair left a few years later. Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. has long been trying to generate revenue from WhatsApp.
WhatsApp said ads will be targeted to users based on information like their age, the country or city where they’re located, the language they’re using, the channels they’re following in the app, and how they’re interacting with the ads they see.
WhatsApp said it won’t use personal messages, calls and groups that a user is a member of to target ads to the user.
It’s one of three advertising features that WhatsApp unveiled on Monday as it tries to monetize the app’s user base. Channels will also be able to charge users a monthly fee for subscriptions so they can get exclusive updates. And business owners will be able to pay to promote their channel’s visibility to new users.
Most of Meta’s revenue comes from ads. In 2025, the Menlo Park, California-based company’s revenue totaled $164.5 billion and $160.6 billion of it came from advertising.

 


Israel strikes Iran’s state broadcaster building

Updated 16 June 2025
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Israel strikes Iran’s state broadcaster building

  • Online footage online shows IRIB’s Glass Building engulfed in flames after the attack

LONDON: Israel has launched an airstrike on the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, in central Tehran, according to numerous videos circulating on social media on Monday.

Footage shared online appeared to show the Glass Building of the IRIB engulfed in flames after the strike.

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One widely circulated clip shows the moment a missile hit the facility during a live broadcast — the presenter, Sahar Emami, is seen on-air before a loud explosion interrupts the feed.

Smoke and debris fill the room as the presenter takes cover and a man is heard shouting. Iran’s state-run media confirmed the attack, directly attributing it to Israel.

According to the first reports, there were several casualties although the exact number has not officially been released.

Videos posted online show significant damage to the building, which appeared to be on fire.

London-based news channel Iran International, reported that IRIB resumed broadcasting from another studio after the attack, with Emami joining the Khabar Network’s live broadcast.

The strike came shortly after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that Iran’s state media outlets would soon be targeted.

“The Iranian propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear,” he said in a statement earlier on Monday, adding that nearby residents had been urged to evacuate.

“In the coming hours, the (Israeli military) will operate in the area, as it has in recent days throughout Tehran, to strike military infrastructure of the Iranian regime,” the military said in a post in Persian on X.

The strike hit an upmarket district of Tehran, home to several diplomatic and international offices, including the embassies of Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait, as well as UN buildings and the Agence France-Presse bureau.

The area also contains major medical facilities and a large police headquarters, raising concerns over the broader impact of the strike.


Ex-Syrian commander claims Assad ordered execution of missing US journalist Tice: BBC

Updated 16 June 2025
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Ex-Syrian commander claims Assad ordered execution of missing US journalist Tice: BBC

  • Maj. Gen. Bassam al-Hassan said to have tried to dissuade former Syrian president but ultimately relayed order
  • BBC claims US officials met Hassan in Beirut at least three times, are investigating the uncorroborated account

LONDON: A former Syrian commander who allegedly oversaw the detention of missing American journalist Austin Tice claims that ex-President Bashar Assad personally ordered Tice’s execution, according to a BBC investigation released over the weekend.

The report centers on Maj. Gen. Bassam al-Hassan, a former commander in the elite Republican Guard and one of Assad’s most trusted advisers. According to the BBC, Hassan spoke to FBI and CIA officials about Tice’s fate during at least three meetings in Lebanon, one of which reportedly took place inside the US embassy compound.

Hassan, who also served as chief of staff of the National Defense Forces — a pro-regime paramilitary group previously linked by the BBC to Tice’s abduction — allegedly oversaw the facility where the journalist was held. Sources close to Hassan said that in 2013, following Tice’s brief escape attempt, he was instructed to execute him.

According to the sources, Hassan initially sought to dissuade Assad but ultimately relayed the order, which was then carried out. The detail of Tice’s escape attempt aligns with prior reports, including a Reuters investigation citing witnesses who recalled seeing “an American man, dressed in ragged clothing” attempting to escape through the streets of Damascus’ upscale Mazzeh neighborhood — believed to be Tice’s final sighting.

Tice disappeared in August 2012 while reporting on Syria’s civil war in the Damascus suburbs, just days after his 31st birthday. A former US Marine captain who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tice was working as a freelance journalist while studying for a law degree at Georgetown University. He was abducted while preparing to leave the country to go to Lebanon.

For years, the Assad regime has denied any knowledge of Tice’s whereabouts or involvement in his disappearance. However, the BBC previously reported that classified documents obtained during its investigation supported long-standing suspicions by US authorities that Damascus was directly involved. The latest investigation suggests that Tice was held in the notorious Tahouneh prison, a regime-controlled facility in Damascus. Hassan is also said to have provided the US officials with possible locations for Tice’s remains, though efforts to verify his claims are ongoing.

“There is not anything, at least at this time, to corroborate what (Hassan) is saying,” a source familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post. “The flip side of it is, with his role in the regime, it’s hard to understand why he would want to lie about something like that.”

Despite the recent developments, skepticism persists. Western intelligence officials expressed doubt that Assad would have issued a direct kill order, noting that the Syrian president typically relies on intermediaries to insulate himself from such decisions.

Speaking to the BBC during a recent trip to Lebanon, Tice’s mother, Debra Tice, said she believed Hassan may have told US officials “a story they wanted to hear” to help close the case.

“I am his mother. I still believe that my son is alive and that he will walk free,” she said.

A former NDF member also told the BBC that Tice was viewed as a valuable bargaining chip for possible negotiations with Washington.

According to the report, Hassan fled to Iran following the collapse of the Syrian regime in December. He was later contacted by phone and invited to Lebanon to meet US officials, who assured him he would not be detained.

The BBC revelations come on the heels of an interview published by The Economist with Safwan Bahloul, a three-star general who previously served in Syria’s external intelligence agency and was tasked with interrogating Tice.

Bahloul, who speaks fluent English and has lived in Britain, said Hassan assigned him to question Tice and handed him the American’s iPhone. His mission was to determine whether Tice was “merely a journalist” or “an American spy.”

Bahloul also said Hassan orchestrated the recording of a video, released on YouTube in September 2012, that showed Tice blindfolded and surrounded by armed men. US intelligence later concluded that the video had been staged by the regime to suggest that Tice was being held by Islamic militants.


TikTok rolls out AI-powered tools to turn text into video ads

Updated 16 June 2025
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TikTok rolls out AI-powered tools to turn text into video ads

  • Advertisers will be able to upload an image or write a text prompt to generate five-second video clips
  • New features announced on Monday at the Cannes Lions advertising festival

LONDON: TikTok is rolling out new advertising tools powered by artificial intelligence that give marketers the ability to turn text or still images into AI-generated video ads.

The ByteDance-owned platform announced the new features on Monday during the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France.

The features, part of TikTok’s Symphony product suite, allow advertisers to upload an image or write a text prompt describing their desired ad. TikTok’s AI then generates five-second video clips that can be used as advertisements.

The text and image-to-video features build on similar AI-powered services introduced by TikTok in 2024, which allow marketers to use AI-generated avatars ­— AI-enhanced digital spokespeople — to promote and sell products on the platform.

AI-generated ads are the latest frontier for social media platforms, which have been investing heavily in AI to automate processes such as content moderation, misinformation detection, and content creation for advertisers and creators seeking more cost-effective ways to produce material for social media.

With such tools, platforms hope to attract marketers to expand their advertising budgets.

Recently, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta announced it was testing new tools that allow advertisers to create marketing content, including images and messaging, using generative AI prompts.