Dewi Kurniawati

A Facebook campaign in support of a jailed mother-of-two facing defamation charges has garnered thousands of members. (AFP Photo)

People Power, Digital Style

It was an ordinary Thursday morning for Ika Ardina, 38, an office manager and mother who lives on the outskirts of Jakarta, until she read a short news story in local newspaper Koran Tempo.

“I was so steamed to find out a mother was in jail because she had complained about the service she received from a hospital,” Ika said.

She started contacting subscribers on the mailing list for a mothers’ group she had joined, asking them if they had seen the news.

“They were all angry, and we felt we should help this other mom, because we thought this could happen to any of us,” Ika said.

But when the discussion didn’t seem to be leading to any action, Ika created a “cause” page on her Facebook account, with the explanation, “Support Prita Mulyasari, a mother who is in jail for writing an e-mail complaint.”

“I never thought it was going to have this impact. I was just trying to find a way to channel my anger over this injustice we’d witnessed,” she said.

Prita Mulyasari, 32 — a mother of two — is being sued by Omni International Hospital in Tangerang for allegedly defaming the hospital in an e-mail to friends.

Tangerang District Court ruled in the hospital’s favor in a civil case and fined Prita Rp 261 million ($26,000).

She was detained on May 13 after refusing to pay the fine and was sent to prison to await a criminal defamation trial that began on Thursday.

Following the public outcry, including Ika’s Facebook support and mainstream media pressure, judicial authorities in Tangerang on Wednesday released Prita, who had been detained for three weeks.

“I am confident that technology, such as the Internet and Facebook can lead to good things — but it can also lead to bad things, like my case for example. I am still traumatized by my three weeks in jail. I used to be active on the Internet and on my FB account, but not after this,” Prita said.

As of writing, about 170,000 people had joined the online support group started by Ika, with more joining each minute, and there are at least eight other cause pages on Facebook in support of Prita, the largest of which has about 41,000 members.

Those who have signed up in support of Prita include ordinary Indonesians, bloggers, members of media rights groups and journalists.

“It’s amazing to see a public movement on Facebook reaching tens of thousands of people like this. We all share the same vision witnessing an injustice like this. We have become a laughing stock outside because things like this only happen in Indonesia,” said Iwan Piliang, a well-known blogger in Indonesia.

“FB works like a multilevel marketing scheme, invitations that I sent to my friends were forwarded and so on, but I never expected it was going to be this huge,” Ika said.

In 2004, Ika also petitioned Jakarta authorities to create more green spaces for children, but the results were much less satisfying. The petition received almost no official notice.

“We didn’t have Facebook at that time. I wish we had,” Ika said.

After seeing the results of her page for Prita, Ika is now thinking of moving her green-space cause to Facebook, and she is also considering creating sites that push for the provision of breast-feeding rooms in office buildings and the stricter enforcement of antismoking laws in public spaces.

“People power is real with Facebook, and seeing this reality I am so thankful there’s FB, and I keep thinking, what else can I strive for?” she said.

Ika’s Facebook site and the support and outcry in online virtual communities helped to shift the focus of major news media from days of domestic brouhaha over teen model Manohara Odelia Pinot and her dramatic return from Malaysia over to Prita.

And once major newspapers were putting Prita’s case on their front page, and TV and radio news stations were continuously reporting her case, political figures began to get involved.

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri visited her in jail and said that Prita’s case was an example of neo-liberalism in law.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla asked the police to review Prita’s imprisonment, calling it “unfair” and saying the police and prosecutors should have examined the case more thoroughly before detaining her. “You can not just put a mother in jail for sending an e-mail,” Kalla said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the first lady also took notice, and asked that law enforcement officials use their consciences alongside the principles of justice.

“I think in Prita’s case, the media has given an amazing example of doing the right thing,” said Veven SP Wardhana, a former journalist who has written several books on media issues.

“We need this kind of pressure group, not the kind of pressure group like Islamic Defenders Front [FPI].”

The FPI is known for staging violent protests in front of Western embassies and businesses whenever its leadership feels that Islam has been insulted.

“The media is correct in defending the rights of those who are weak and in need of help,” Veven said.

But the question is, would the media have taken as much notice if not for the thousands signing up in support on Facebook and other social networking sites?

“I think it’s very good that Facebook has become a strong tool for defending freedom of expression, not just about Prita, because there are other cases too ... but since Facebook has become a trend, it’s good to see it used for a good cause,” said Effendi Ghazali, an expert on media and political communication from the University of Indonesia.

“I think it can drive headlines in the mainstream media — no surprise, because many journalists are on Facebook, too, so they know what’s going on, on the site,” he said.

Enda Nasution, known as the “father of Indonesian bloggers,” said that the Internet certainly had the power to bring ideas to thousands of people in a very short time.

“The Internet makes our life easier. In the old days, Sukarno, our first president and founding father, would have had to make a public speech in front of thousands of people to get them to march for a cause.”

“In Prita’s case, the credit goes to all of us,” he said.

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