Survey Indicates Growing Public Fear of Expressing Opinions

A survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia reveals that a majority, or 64.9%, of respondents are increasingly afraid to express their opinions.

The details show that 6.8% of respondents strongly agree, and 56.1% agree. Meanwhile, 21.4% of respondents disagree that people are increasingly afraid to express their opinions, with 16.8% stating they somewhat disagree and 4.6% disagreeing completely. 15.7% stated they don't know or refused to answer.

Regarding freedom of speech according to demographics, a majority of respondents agree that people are increasingly afraid to express their opinions across almost every socio-demographic basis, except for respondents of Minangkabau and Bugis ethnicity, non-Muslim groups, the Bali Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and Maluku Papua regions, and those supporting the NasDem party and other parties in the 2019 election.

The Indikator survey also investigated the revision of the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE). The results show that a majority, or 59.5%, of respondents agree that the UU ITE should be revised immediately because it threatens freedom of expression.

This survey was conducted from February 11-21, 2022. The survey population consisted of citizens aged 17 years or older, or those who were married at the time of the survey. Sample selection used a multistage random sampling method.

The survey's base sample size was 1,200 individuals. Samples were drawn from all provinces and proportionally distributed. Assuming simple random sampling, the margin of error is approximately ±2.9% at a 95% confidence level.

(Also read: Indikator Survey: Majority of Respondents Agree that Corruptors and Drug Lords Should Face the Death Penalty)