Indonesian Netizen Sentiment on Sumatra Disaster Handling Divided

Flood and landslide disasters struck three provinces on Sumatra Island, namely Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, at the end of November 2025.

The public widely discussed the handling of this disaster on social media with diverse sentiments.

According to findings by Drone Emprit, from all discussions related to the topic on X, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok from November 25-29, 2025, 48% were positive, 35% negative, and 17% neutral.

Positive discussions among netizens were related to the state's rapid response, the deployment of helicopters by the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), corporate solidarity and social responsibility, moral appeals from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as well as the mobilization of collective action with the hashtag #PrayForSumatera.

Meanwhile, negative discussions were related to criticism of government performance, root causes and ecological failures, political and corporate accountability, and anger because the Sumatra disaster was not declared a national disaster.

"The public on social media is angry because the status of 'national disaster' was not declared and often compares it to the government's response to disasters on Java Island," said Drone Emprit in its report, Monday (December 1, 2025).