Historically, youth[1] have played a pivotal role in social-political movements, campaigns, and protests, emerging as influential political actors. The influence of youth activism on societal transformation has been evident in numerous instances, often shaping the course of events in various place. The advent of grassroots political participation, particularly that stemming from youth culture, has been instrumental in leveraging technology, the internet, and social media with creative visual content. This has not only facilitated the articulation of protest but also the reconfiguration of political norms and practices in ways that are difficult to suppress. This phenomenon, characterized by a dynamic interplay of dissenters, skeptics, protesters, abstainers, and critics, exemplifies the systematic, bottom-up work of public collectives by youth. In Indonesia, a distinctive set of technopolitical events is unfolding in the era of an invasive internet and social media landscape, exerting influence on a diverse array of expressions and information sharing, often serve as a unifying call for both organized and unorganized political action, frequently driven by a desire to challenge perceived systemic injustices, resist oppressive top-down policies, and assert protect fundamental rights.

It is interesting to note that as social, economic, and political flexibility has expanded through the internet-digital age, digital technologies and platforms have been used by Indonesian youth to bring innovation to protests, foster inclusivity, and lower the cost of mass organizing. Arguably, It would seem that these technologies have a tendency to help activism and protest movement to be more effective, contributing to higher mobilization impact and consequences, though not without risks. It is important to acknowledge the intricate process of youth resistance and their involvement in new socio-political movements, where they are rapidly developing skills in creating algorithms to unify messages and expand the reach of significant updates in movement-building

The credibility of information disseminated to the public through digital platforms must be derived from sources that the public trusts. This is of particular importance and in the context, it’s from Indonesian famous critical journalist and the YouTube platforms, rather than hoaxes or buzzers. This is of particular significance in the context of public trust, as it serves to motivate through its narrative and visual appeal, thereby reinforcing social movements or protests. This a natural consequence of the proliferation of information bubbles across various digital platforms. In such a context, it becomes imperative to employ accurate political filters and preferences regarding credible sources. The state, in turn, responds by navigating policies to consolidate the rise of public algorithmic politics by conducting cyber propaganda, control and panopticon over the individual, industry (media) and social media platforms. They conduct doxing and hacking of personal social media accounts, including screening and hacking of communication apps their families, predominantly among journalists, activists and public lawyers. 

This article will examine the case of Blue Screen Resistance on YouTube, a visual narrative production that was created by a credible account with actors trusted by the public as being accustomed to conveying to voice the people's political inspiration towards the government and the state through his media account/channel. Consequently, this YouTube video gained widespread circulation, disseminating and duplicated across various digital platforms and undergoing modifications without altering its content and context, instead served to bolster the confidence of the public in the feasibility of conducting public protests.

The Blue Screen Resistance on YouTube

On 21 August 2024, at the conclusion of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) second term, an Peringatan Darurat(emergency warning) video, accompanied by an image of Garuda Pancasila, the national emblem with the Five State Ideology on a blue screen background began circulating on various social media platforms. The video was initially disseminated via the NarasiTV YouTube account, and was subsequently uploaded simultaneously by @najwashihab, @matanajwa, and @narasitv on Instagram. It then spread to other social media platforms, including X and TikTok, where Indonesia is one of the largest countries in terms of internet and social media users. Consequently, the video rapidly proliferated. In addition to these avant-garde alternative media artefacts created by professional journalists and activists, there was also a variety of grassroots-based videos with their own narratives, such as memes or other videos of fresh ideas, and creative skills that provided the mass energy for multi-media protests in support of this emergency Indonesia movement. For instance, the garuda biru (blue garuda) video was accompanied by a Morse alarm and creepy music. 

The garuda biru video became a symbol of resistance, both among the crowds of protesters and in the artwork of the Indonesia emergency protest. This protest may have been influenced by Suzanne Collins' dystopian series “The Hunger Games”, which is about rebellion against an oppressive government. This is a similar story that happened in Indonesia in real life, hence the Indonesia emergency protest.

This video serves as a warning of Indonesia emergency, emphasizing the anger and discontent of the population, particularly the youth, regarding their involvement in a dysfunctional democracy, vulnerable demographics, and the crisis, as perceived by the people, in consideration of the ambiguous economic, educational, and political situation established by Jokowi and parliament. The significant civil society engagement, particularly among youth, in politics and protest movements is rooted in natural communities structured around class, gender, caste, religion, economic aspirations, and powerful political machinations that boldly and cleverly provide tactics in the form of new types of resistance through digital tools and platforms. These efforts to mobilize and network on social media contribute to innovations in mobilizing practices amidst intrusive surveillance.

The concept of this video bears resemblance to the national television broadcast, TVRI-Television of the Republic of Indonesia as a sign that the TV broadcast has ended or public signal interference or a government interruption for emergency situations, which exemplifies the style of videos from the 1990s era under the authoritarian-militaristic regime of the New Order (1965-1998), led by General Suharto. During this period, Indonesia's sole television network was TVRI and all content was subject to state oversight. TVRI was established in 1962 and has functioned as the primary vehicle for government propaganda, particularly during the period of the New Order. TVRI maintained a monopoly on television broadcasting in Indonesia until 1989, when RCTI, national Indonesia's first private television station, was established. 

The content of the video is a fictionalized account of an emergency alert that is purportedly issued to Indonesian people’s regarding anomalous government activities that have been detected also as a symbolic satire about the emergency situation that the end of the Indonesian government like the end of TV broadcasts. These visual activities are said to be creating a state of emergency for Indonesian democracy, and are characterized as a legal, constitutional and reformasi dikorupsi (Reform Corrupted) situation that is said to be leading back to the 32-year authoritarian New Order regime (1966-1998). 

Indonesia had an emergency experience during the second colonial military aggression in 1948. In response, the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI) was established to safeguard the constitutional legitimacy of the Indonesian state against the colonial addiction forces that were utilizing a military command system known as perang rakyat semesta (universal people's war). It is anticipated that a similar emergency will occur in 2024, coinciding with the conclusion of President Jokowi's second term. This prospective emergency is attributed to the political and legal orientation towards regulations and constitutions that have become disorderly under the Jokowi government and the DPR. This new 'universal people's war' is characterized by civilian attacks in short YouTube video explosions, which function as a guide to public self-help campaigns that encourage state detoxification. These campaigns have a significant presence on social media platforms, particularly on individuals' home screens, as of 21 August 2024. This served as a catalyst for major protests in numerous cities on 22 August 2024, thereby providing the nation with a cathartic release to break free from Jokowi's authoritarian addiction, where social justice and human rights agendas are forsaken in favor of neoliberal economic policies and their pragmatic alliance with the entrenched elite.

Social media users on various platforms have shared of this emergency alert system videos to serving as campaign and a symbolic expression of apprehension regarding the potential constitutional crisis. following the House of Representatives' move to subvert the Constitutional Court's ruling amending the Executive Regional Elections Law by lowering the electoral threshold - a measure that is widely seen as benefiting Jokowi's family, particularly his youngest son, by preparing him to assume a regional executive position through the November 2024 regional elections.

Since the morning of 22 August 2024, a people’s, university student, student school and many youths, have engaged in street demonstrations in numerous Indonesian cities. The Indonesian populace has expressed feelings of anger and a desire to avoid being deceived in a similar manner to that which occurred previously. The previous pattern is exemplified by the appointment of Jokowi's brother-in-law as chairman of the Constitutional Court. This led to alterations being made to the requirements for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, thereby providing Jokowi's first son with the opportunity to become a vice-presidential candidate in the February 2024 election, which he subsequently won. 

Prior to the 2024 presidential election, in 2023, Jokowi sought to amend the constitution to abolish the two-term presidency, thereby indicating a desire to return to power for three or more terms, as if to repeat the New Order. However, it seems that this attempt may not have been as successful as hoped, as Jokowi was unable to convince parliament, despite parliament being dominated by supporting parties. Because of this, another scenario was devised, which involved placing his son in a state executive position, so that the dynasties was maintained. 

The present protests, and the state's response to them, have revived memories of the 1998 protests known as Reformasi98 that toppled the authoritarian regime of General Suharto. This movement successfully overthrew the Suharto’s military dictatorship under the banner of New Order and began ushered the transition to democracy. This Indonesia Darurat protest has been the largest since then[2].

Youth Activism in the Global South within the New Media Ecosystem 

This YouTube video, which is an emergency response to the socio-political situation in Indonesia, is based on the crucial concept of socio-political awareness and competence in the utilization of new media technology for the purpose of engaging in grassroots participatory democracy. This is achieved by a collection of resisters, sceptics, protesters, abstainers and critics, who demonstrate the rhizomatic work of systematic public collectives in a bottom-up manner - by people for people. The video demonstrates the efficacy of dissent and citizen movements in democracy as a shared pedagogy in decentralized knowledge processes, where knowledge is liberated from linear thinking, hierarchies of thought, and single sources of authority. In grassroots political participation, especially youth culture, using technology, internet, social media with creative visual content enables not only the articulation of protests, but also the reconfiguration of political norms and practices in ways that are not easily suppressed.

The phenomenal popularity of YouTube videos and the game-changing power of algorithms in digital politics have paved the way for a new era of inclusive digital media. These platforms are opening up exciting new spaces for ordinary people to engage with politics, transforming democratic public life in the process. This reconstruction fosters solidarity time for collective action, with these platforms setting the agenda and driving mobilization, while also navigating the complex dynamics of polarization, radicalization and manipulation.  The video uploaded to YouTube outlines the exciting potential for a transformative media pedagogical culture on youth culture of learning by performing and establishing a causal dialogical relationship between technological change and democratic governance in public pedagogies. This Blue Screen Resistance facilitated by YouTube illustrates how media created by and for Indonesian youth can foster a grassroots media culture rooted in audiovisual literacy. Rather than simply conveying information, it encourages informal learning by linking everyday technological practices to broader questions of civic participation and democratic accountability—offering a form of public pedagogy that is both performative and dialogical.

References 

Anderson, Benedict R. 1967. “The Pemuda Revolution: Indonesia Politics, 1945-1946”. PhD Tesis. Ithaca: New York. Cornell University.

Brain, Blocky. 2025. “The Last Broadcast – Analog Horror Indonesia”. YouTube, March, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHcsoqSoQ0Q

Lee, Doreen. 2011. “Images of Youth: on the Iconography of History and Protest in Indonesia”. History and Anthropology (22)3, 307–336. DOI: 10.1080/02757206.2011.595003

Lengauer, Dayana. 2024. “Emergency Activism: Indonesia’s Eroding Democracy, Activist Students, and the Art of Protest. An Interview with Frans Ari Prasetyo”. ASEAS (17)2. DOI: 10.14764/10.ASEAS-0111  

Prasetyo, FA, and M. 2024. “Anarchists on the Wave of Protest in Indonesia”. Crimethinc, September 23, 2024. https://crimethinc.com/2024/09/23/anarchists-on-the-wave-of-protest-in-i...

Sastramidjaja, Y. 2019. “Student movements and Indonesia’s democratic transition”. In T. Dibley & M. Ford (Eds.), Activists in Transition. Ithaca: New York. Cornell University Press. pp. 23-40.

Shihab, Najwa. 2024. “Kita Marah, dan Ini Peringatan Daruratnya”. YouTube, August 22, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyR79y-P1TI