Commissioner General Eddy Hartono, head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), told lawmakers on September 3 that digitalization is critical for faster detection, prevention, and enforcement.
Speaking during a hearing with the House of Representatives' ( DPR's) Commission XIII in Jakarta, he urged support for boosting the agency’s technological infrastructure.
“Support from information technology to strengthen preventive measures in the field is very important,” Hartono said in remarks confirmed Monday.
He called on legislators to back BNPT’s efforts to acquire more advanced tech tools to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape.
Commission XIII Deputy Chair Dewi Asmara said she supports expanding BNPT’s digital infrastructure, despite its existing collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs and other agencies.
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“We specifically support additional digitalization, even though BNPT already coordinates with relevant ministries,” Dewi said.
She emphasized the agency’s need for digital autonomy and robust infrastructure to effectively prevent the spread of radical ideologies online. Dewi added that stronger executive-legislative cooperation is essential to securing Indonesia’s digital ecosystem.
At the 12th National Working Meeting of the Terrorism Prevention Coordination Forum (FKPT) in April, Hartono warned that technological tools are increasingly being misused by extremist groups to spread propaganda, recruit, radicalize, train operatives, raise funds, and conduct cyberattacks.
He said such misuse has accelerated the spread of violent ideologies and simplified access to extremist content.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, pro-terror activity online has increased significantly, Hartono added. To counter this, BNPT is focusing on three core strategies: national preparedness, counter-radicalization, and deradicalization.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has faced a string of attacks over the past two decades and is tightening its digital defenses to respond to new and evolving threats.
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Translator: Agatha, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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