Memes and the Indonesian 2024 Presidential Elections: Performative Politics in an Illiberal Setting
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-0124Keywords:
Elections, Illiberal, Indonesia, Meme, Performative PoliticsAbstract
Memes played a significant role in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, particularly in shaping illiberal and elite discourse. This study focuses on Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko Widodo (2014-2024) and, since October 2024, the 14th vice president of Indonesia, a controversial figure who benefited from illiberal law and politics. Using digital observation of Gibran’s Instagram and X accounts, this study examines how his humorous engagement with digital-native language mobilizes voters while intensifying intergenerational political conflict. The findings suggest that memes have evolved beyond digital campaign tools to resignify elite legitimation in an illiberal state. Furthermore, this study argues that technology consumption patterns have replaced the traditional class-based division of ‘people versus elites’ in populist narratives, signaling a shift toward digital nativism in Indonesia. By questioning whether memes function as grassroots resistance or elite control mechanisms, this research contributes to broader discussions on digital politics in Southeast Asia.
References
@cmewewewewe. (2024). Izin kan saya mencuri meme meme kalian Terima kasih [Allow me to steal your memes Thank you]. X.
@tanyarlfes. (2024). Drop meme yg kalian punya , ak mau mencuriinya , thank youu >< [Drop the memes you have, I want to steal them, thank youu ><]. X.
Ahmed, S., & Masood, M. (2024). Breaking barriers with memes: How memes bridge political cynicism to online political participation. Social Media + Society, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241261277
Alatas, I. F. (2021). What is religious authority? Cultivating Islamic communities in Indonesia. Princeton University Press.
Amali, Z. (2020). Dugaan Komisioner KPU Solo bagi-bagi duit untuk mengamankan Bajo [Allegations
that KPU Solo commissioners shared money to secure Bajo]. In Dinasti Politik Keluarga Presiden Jokowi [Dynasty politics of President Jokowi's family] (pp. 17–24). Tirto & Kurawal Foundation.
Amarilisya, A. (2020). 10 Meme lucu “orang dalam” ini bikin fresh graduate senyum kecut [These 10
funny “insider” memes will make fresh graduates smile wryly]. Brilio. https://www.brilio.net/ngakak/10-meme-lucu-orang-dalam-ini-bikin-fresh-graduate-senyum-kecut-200617b.html
Anderau, G., & Barbarrusa, D. (2024). The function of memes in political discourse. Topoi, 43(5), 1529–1546.
Anggrainy, F. C. (2023). Habib Luthfi soal Gibran jadi cawapres: Pilihan Pak Prabowo tepat [Habib Luthfi regarding Gibran becoming vice presidential candidate: Pak Prabowo’s choice was right]. Detik.Com. https://news.detik.com/pemilu/d-7000644/habib-luthfi-soal-gibran-jadi-cawapres-pilihan-pak-prabowo-tepat
Annur, M. C. (2023). Digadang jadi cawapres Prabowo, berapa kekayaan Gibran Rakabuming?
[Expected to be Prabowo’s vice presidential candidate, how much is Gibran Rakabuming’s net worth?]. Katadata. https://databoks.katadata.co.id/ekonomi-makro/statistik/1d6e05883e6a0f5/digadang-jadi-cawapres-prabowo-berapa-kekayaan-gibran-rakabuming
Barát, E. (2018). Populist discourse and desire for social justice. In K. Hall & R. Barrett (Eds.), The
Oxford handbook of language and sexuality. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212926.013.72
Baulch, E., Matamoros-Fernández, A., & Suwana, F. (2022). Memetic persuasion and WhatsAppification in Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. New Media & Society, 26(5), 2473–2491.
Beck, D. (2024). Humorous parodies of popular culture as strategy in Boris Johnson’s populist
communication. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 26(3), 830–847.
Bourchier, D. (2015). Illiberal democracy in Indonesia. Routledge.
Bratich, J. (2014). Occupy all the dispositifs: Memes, media ecologies, and emergent bodies politic.
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 11(1), 64–73.
Butler, J. (1997). Excitable speech: A politic of the performative (1st ed.). Routledge.
Butler, J. (2010). Performative agency. Journal of Cultural Economy, 3(2), 147–161.
Carrejo, C. (2017). 17 French election memes to laugh about. Bustle. https://www.bustle.com/p/17-frenchelection-memes-to-laugh-about-while-you-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-56288
Chagas, V. (2023). Chapter 22: Memes as vernacular politics. In Research handbook on visual politics
(pp. 298–309). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800376939.00031
Chowdhury, N. (2022). The affective-discursive ‘pruning’ of neoliberal selves: introducing the notion of self-othering. Subjectivity, 15(4), 205–222.
CNN Indonesia. (2022). KPK setop laporan dugaan KKN yang seret Gibran dan Kaesang [KPK stops report on alleged KKN dragging Gibran and Kaesang]. CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20220819172437-12-836650/kpk-setop-laporan-dugaan-kkn-yang-seret-gibran-dan-kaesang
Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2016). The mediated construction of reality. Polity Press.
De Blasio, E., & Sorice, M. (2018). Populism between direct democracy and the technological myth. Palgrave Communications, 4(1), 15.
Diprose, R., McRae, D., & Hadiz, V. R. (2019). Two decades of reformasi in Indonesia: Its illiberal turn.
Journal of Contemporary Asia, 49(5), 691–712.
Dirgantara, A., & Maullana, I. (2024). TKN sebut anak muda anggap Prabowo Pahlawan, sedangkan Gibran bisa cari solusi zaman “Now” [TKN said young people considering Prabowo as a hero, while Gibran can find solutions in the “Nowadays”]. Kompas.Com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2024/02/17/07463641/tkn-sebut-anak-muda-anggap-prabowo-pahlawan-sedangkan-gibran-bisa-cari
Duile, T., & Tamma, S. (2021). Political language and fake news: Some considerations from the 2019
election in Indonesia. Indonesia and the Malay World, 49(143), 82–105.
Dulay, D. G. C. (2020). Traditional institutions and the political economy of the Philippines. Duke University. https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/items/6344f127-9035-4d9b-89ef-7b8ee3c7f576
Dwi, A. (2023). Mengenal sistem kerja outsourcing yang dihidupkan Jokowi lewat perpu cipta kerja [Get to know the outsourcing work system that Jokowi has activated through the job creation perppu]. Tempo. https://www.tempo.co/ekonomi/mengenal-sistem-kerja-outsourcing-yang-dihidupkan-jokowi-lewatperpu-cipta-kerja-231442
Farisa, F. C. (2023). Bagaimana MK diplesetkan jadi “Mahkamah Keluarga” di tengah gugatan usia
capres-cawapres? [How was the Constitutional Court twisted into a “Family Court” amidst the lawsuits over the ages of presidential and vice presidential candidates?]. Kompas.Com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/10/11/05150031/bagaimana-mk-dipelesetkan-jadi-mahkamah-keluarga-di-tengah-gugatan-usia?page=all%0A
Fauzi. (2023a). Nusron Wahid: KIM pilih Gibran untuk beri kesempatan ke anak muda [Nusron Wahid:
KIM has chosen Gibran to give opportunities to young people]. Antara. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/3799167/nusron-wahid-kim-pilih-gibran-untuk-beri-kesempatan-ke-anak-muda
Fauzi, H. (2023b). Kilas balik 2022, Masjid Raya Sheikh Zayed dan Persahabatan Indonesia - PEA [Flashback to 2022, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Indonesian - UEA Friendship]. Kemenag.go.id. https://kemenag.go.id/nasional/kilas-balik-2022-masjid-raya-sheikh-zayed-dan-persahabatan-indonesia-pea-ynvhvw
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of theory of structuration. Polity Press.
Glass, M. R., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2014). Performativity, politics, and the production of social space (1st Ed.). Routledge.
Hadiz, V. R. (2004). The rise of neo-Third Worldism? The Indonesian trajectory and the consolidation of illiberal democracy. Third World Quarterly, 25(1), 55–71.
Halversen, A., & Weeks, B. E. (2023). Memeing politics: Understanding political meme creators, audiences, and consequences on social media. Social Media and Society, 9(4), 1–11.
Hanan, H. (2017). Meme culture sebagai kritik terhadap capres & cawapres pemilihan presiden 2014 di Twitter [Meme culture as critics toward presidential and vice 2014 presidential candidates in presidential election in Twitter]. Airlangga University.
Hill, D. T., & Sen, K. (2000). The internet in Indonesia’s new democracy. Democratization, 7(1), 119–136.
Hutchcroft, P. D. (1991). Oligarchs and cronies in the Philippine state the politics of patrimonial plunder. World Politics, 43(3), 414–450.
Jones, R. H. (2021). Introduction: Are discourse analysts ‘essential workers’? In R. H. Jones (Ed.), Viral discourse. Cambrigde Unniversity Press.
Katadata Insight Center. (2023). Politik di mata anak muda [Politics in the eyes of young people]. https://cdn1.katadata.co.id/media/files/2023/11/15/2023_11_15-13_43_11_f6659cffe5beb220f147547a901e78a1.pdf
Kompas.com. (2023). Tim Prabowo-Gibran: Politik riang gembira, kalau diserang dikit sambil nyinyir tak apa [Prabowo-Gibran team: Politics is joyful, if we are attacked a little while sneering, it’s okay]. Kompas.Com.
KompasTV. (2023a). Memiliki gaya komunikasi yang berbeda, siapa konsultan Gibran? [Having a different communication style, who is Gibran’s consultant?]. Kompas TV.
KompasTV. (2023b). Pidato Kaesang Pangarep di deklarasi dukungan untuk Prabowo-Gibran [Kaesang Pangarep’s speech in the declaration of support for Prabowo-Gibran]. Kompas TV.
Kristensen, N., & Mortensen, M. (2021). “Don’t panic people! Trump will tweet the virus away”: Memes contesting and confirming populist political leaders during the COVID-19 crisis. Information,
Communication & Society, 24(16), 2442–2458.
Laksono, D. D., & Suparta, U. (2019). Sexy killers [Documentary].
Leeker, M., Schipper, I., & Timon, B. (2017). Performativity, performance studies and digital cultures. In M. Leeker, I. Schipper, & B. Timon (Eds.), Performing the digital: Performativity and performance studies in digital cultures (pp. 9-18). transcript.
Llewellyn, A. (2023). Indonesian leader’s son brushes off ‘nepo baby’ tag in feted debate showing. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/23/indonesian-leaders-son-brushes-off-nepo-baby-tag-in-solid-debate-showing
Macaulay, M. (Ed.). (2019). A short introduction to populism BT – Populist discourse: International perspectives. Springer International Publishing.
Manapat, R. (1991). Some are smarter than others: The history of Marcos’ crony’ capitalism. Aletheia Publications.
Marendra, P. (2023). 5 foto profil medsos Gibran Rakabuming yang selalu unik, akui ingin tampil beda [5 Gibran Rakabuming’s social media profile photos that are always unique, admits he wants to look different]. Liputan6. https://www.liputan6.com/hot/read/5430759/5-foto-profil-medsos-gibran-rakabuming-yang-selalu-unik-akui-ingin-tampil-beda
Mendoza, M. E. H. (2022). Philippine elections 2022. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 44(3), 389–395.
Mietzner, M. (2018). Fighting illiberalism with illiberalism: Islamist populism and democratic
deconsolidation in Indonesia. Pacific Affairs, 91(2), 261–282.
Mozdeika, L. (2023). Nudges, emojis, and memes: Mapping interpassivity theory onto digital civic culture. Communication and Democracy, 57(2), 252–274.
Muhamad, N. (2023). KPU: Pemilih 2024 didominasi oleh kelompok Gen Z dan Millenial [KPU: 2024 voters dominated by Gen Z and Millennials]. Katadata. https://databoks.katadata.co.id/politik/statistik/faf64350269d0c8/kpu-pemilih-pemilu-2024-didominasi-oleh-kelompok-gen-z-dan-milenial
Nugraheny, D. E., & Asril, S. (2022). Jadi kesayangan netizen, ternyata ini maksud “Kucing Oren” sering tampil di medsos Jokowi [Becoming a favorite of netizens, it turns out that this is the meaning of the “orange cat” that often appears on Jokowi’s social media]. Kompas.Com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2022/10/24/15270111/jadi-kesayangan-netizen-ternyata-ini-maksud-kucing-oren-sering-tampildi?page=all
Oesman, D. W. (2023). Heboh plesetan mahkamah keluarga [Family Court Prank Sensation]. MerdekaNews. https://m.merdekanews.co/read/24346/Heboh-Plesetan-Mahkamah-Keluarga
Ong, J. C. (2022). Philippine elections 2022: The dictator’s son and the discourse around disinformation. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 44(3), 396–403.
Orkibi, E. (2022). Self-othering to power: vilification, ridicule and moral claims in the Israeli right ‘underdog’ discourse. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 17(2), 158–172.
Pahlevi, R. (2023). Cek data: Benarkah Solo ‘diguyur’ proyek pemerintah karena Gibran? [Check the data: Is it true that Solo is “showered” with government projects because of Gibran?]. Katadata. https://katadata.co.id/cek-data/653eff6ab3941/cek-data-benarkah-solo-diguyur-proyek-pemerintah-karena-gibran
Power, T. P. (2018). Jokowi’s authoritarian turn and Indonesia’s democratic decline. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 54(3), 307–338.
Praditya, M. D. (2018). Meme culture as political propaganda in the Donald Trump presidential
campaign. Center for Digital Society (CfDS), 24. https://cfds.fisipol.ugm.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/sites/1423/2021/01/24-CfDS-Case-Study-Meme-Culture-as-Political-Propaganda-in-the-Donald-Trump-Presidential-Campaign.pdf
Primadhyta, S. (2022). Gibran soal suntikan dana bisnis es doger Rp. 71m: Biasa [Gibran regarding the IDR 71 billion ice goger business fund injection: Normal]. CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20220119092624-92-748454/gibran-soal-suntikan-dana-bisnis-es-doger-rp71-m-biasa
Putranto, W. G. (2023). Foto profil nyleneh hingga cara komunikasi berbeda, Gibran akui punya konsultan politik [Gibran admits that he has an odd profile photo and a different way of communicating, he has a political consultant]. Tribunnews. https://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2023/07/28/foto-profilnyeleneh-hingga-cara-komunikasi-berbeda-gibran-akui-punya-konsultan-politik
Rahardi, H. R., & Amalia, R. M. (2019). Meme as political criticism towards 2019 Indonesian General
Election: A critical discourse analysis. Studies in English Language and Education, 6(2), 239–250.
Rahayu, I. R. S., & Pratama, M. M. (2023). 81 Juta Anak Muda Belum Punya Rumah, Erick Thohir Minta
Kurangi Gaya Hidup [81 Million Young People Don’t Have a Home, Erick Thohir Asks to Reduce Lifestyle]. Kompas.Com. https://money.kompas.com/read/2023/08/08/191000326/81-juta-anak-mudabelum-punya-rumah-erick-thohir-minta-kurangi-gaya-hidup
Raka, G. R. (2023). Saya selalu punya meme yg pas dalam segala situesyen [I always have the right meme for every situation]. X.
Rankawat, V. (2023). Modi’s digital diplomacy: A comprehensive analysis of social media as a political communication and governance tool. International Journal of Political Science and Governance, 5(2), 75–80.
Rastogi, S., & Kashyap, S. (2019). Political memes and perceptions: A study of memes as a political communication tool in the Indian context. Proceedings of the 5th World Conference on Media and Mass Communication, 5(1), 35–48.
Rodriguez, N. S., & Goretti, N. (2022). From hoops to hope: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and political fandom on Twitter. International Journal of Communication, 16, 65–84.
Santosa, H. P., Lestari, S. B., & Ayun, P. Q. (2018). The reception of memes as political information in the media. E3S Web of Conferences, 73, 14014.
Sastramidjaja, Y., & Wijayanto. (2022). Cyber troops, online manipulation of public opinion and co-optation of Indonesia’s cybersphere. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TRS7_22.pdf
Schaffar, W., & Praphakorn, W. (2021). The #MilkTeaAlliance: A new transnational pro-democracy movement against Chinese-centered globalization? Advances in Southeast Asian Studies, 14(1), 5–16.
Schroeder, R. (2018). Social theory after the internet. UCL Press.
Semotiuk, O., & Shevchenko, V. (2022). To make fun of power: political cartoons and memes about
President Zelensky. Quantitative and qualitative analysis. European Journal of Humour Research, 10(4), 82–98.
Singgih, W., & Ihsanuddin. (2023). Anies: Fenomena orang dalam ini menyebalkan, negeri ini rusak [Anies: This insider phenomenon is frustrating, this country is broken]. Kompas.Com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/12/12/21313151/anies-fenomena-orang-dalam-ini-menyebalkan-negeri-ini-rusak
Siregar, N. R., Raffiudin, S., & Noor, F. (2020). Democratic regression in Indonesia: Police and low-capacity democracy in Jokowi’s administration (2014–2020). Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Dan Ilmu Politik, 26(2), 197–212.
Smith, C. Q. (2014). Illiberal peace-building in hybrid political orders: managing violence during Indonesia’s contested political transition. Third World Quarterly, 35(8), 1509–1528.
Smith, C. Q. (2020). Liberal and illiberal peace-building in East Timor and Papua: establishing order in a democratising state. Conflict, Security and Development, 20(1), 39–70.
Sukidi. (2023). Machiavelli Jawa [Javanese Machiavelli]. Tempo. https://www.tempo.co/kolom/
siapakah-machiavelli-jawa--819438
Syambudi, I. (2020). Pilkada Solo: Dugaan makelar KTP agar Gibran tak melawan kolom kosong [Solo
Pilkada: Alleged KTP broker so Gibran doesn’t run against empty column]. In Dinasti Politik Keluarga
Presiden Jokowi (pp. 1–16). Tirto & Kurawal Foundation.
Tapsell, R. (2019). Indonesia’s policing of hoax news increasingly politicised. ISEAS Perspective, 75, 1–10.
Tapsell, R. (2020). The media and democratic decline. In T. Power & E. Warburton (Eds.), Democracy in
Indonesia: From stagnation to regression? (pp. 210–227). ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.
Tapsell, R. (2021). How Jokowi won the internet: Influencers, buzzers and reducing opposition voices online. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep33994.10.pdf
Tempo. (2023). Demi demokrasi, Gibran seharusnya mundur sebagai cawapres [For the sake of democracy, Gibran should resign as vice president candidate]. Majalah Tempo.
Titscher, S., Meyer, M., Wodak, R., & Vetter, E. (2000). Methods of text and discourse analysis. SAGE
Publications.
Törnquist, O. (2014). Stagnation or transformation in Indonesia? Economic and Political Weekly, 49(50), 25–27.
Widodo, J. (2022). Terima kasih para dokter dan segenap tenaga kesehatan untuk pengabdian tanpa
pamrih, juga keteguhan untuk berada di garis depan menghadapi pandemi [Thank you to the doctors and all health workers for your selfless devotion, as well as your determination]. Facebook.
Wiggins, B. E. (2019). The discursive power of memes in digital culture: Ideology, semiotics, & intertextuality. Routledge.
Wiggins, B. E., & Bowers, G. B. (2015). Memes as genre: A structurational analysis of the memescape. New Media & Society, 17(11), 1886–1906.
Zamani, L., & Rusiana, D. A. (2022). Dapat hibah Rp 236 miliar dari pemerintah UEA, Gibran: Alhamdulillah [Received a grant of IDR 236 billion from the UAE Government, Gibran: Thank God]. Kompas.Com. https://regional.kompas.com/read/2022/12/30/085817878/dapat-hibah-rp-236-miliar-dari-pemerintah-uea-gibran-alhamdulillah
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ubaidillah Ubaidillah, Widjajanti M. Santoso, Nina Widyawati, Purwadi Purwadi, Ana Windarsih
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
For all articles published in ASEAS before December 2014 and after July 2022, copyright is retained by the authors. For articles published between January 2015 and June 2022, the Society for South-East Asian Studies (SEAS) is the copyright holder. Articles published in ASEAS before December 2019 are licensed under the following Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. Articles published after that date are licensed under the following Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. In both cases, this means that everybody is free to share (to copy, to distribute, and to transmit the work) under the following conditions:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
-
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
