A series of “terrorist” threats involving animal remains targeting several staff working for Indonesia’s Tempo magazine has sparked concerns over backsliding press freedoms and that such intimidation tactics could push journalists toward self-censorship.
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Tempo, one of the country’s most respected investigative news outlets, on Saturday received a box of six rats with their heads decapitated, which was thrown into the front gate of its headquarters in Jakarta.
The incident happened just three days after a severed pig’s head was sent to Francisca Christy Rosana, a political journalist with the magazine and co-host of its “Bocor Alus” political podcast.
In a virtual news briefing on Sunday, Tempo’s editor-in-chief Setri Yasra said the personal data of Rosana and her family had also been published online, with the doxxing act carried out by an “anonymous” actor.
“So it’s not just [Rosana], her family too. Her social media account was [inaccessible], although we can restore it. There was an anonymous account on Instagram that made threats openly [against Rosana], with harsh language. We don’t know the person because the account is anonymous,” he said.
While it was unclear why animal carcasses were sent to Tempo, the weekly magazine described the incidents as acts of “terror”.
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