Unofficial Voices, Populist Echoes: Mapping Populism in Indonesia’s 2024 Satellite Campaigns

Satellite campaigns in Indonesia’s 2024 elections mark a shift from centralized, party-driven campaigning to dispersed, digitally enabled grassroots mobilization. Operating independently of established political structures, these campaigns use the reach and interactivity of digital and social media to expand participation and democratize political discourse, while at the same time creating fertile ground for populist communication. This independence also generates tensions and ambiguities, goals can diverge between political leaders and grassroots advocates, complicating coherent campaign strategy, and the same networks that amplify inclusive engagement can also facilitate misinformation. Computational and network analyses of populist language in satellite campaigns show how the digitally mediated mobilization forms reshape political communication and engagement, underscoring both their democratic potential and the need for safeguards to protect democratic integrity.