24-02-2025

Over the past decade, concerns have grown about the increasing use of social media to manipulate public opinion. In Southeast Asia both foreign actors and domestic elites increasingly employ social media operators – variously termed buzzers, cybertroopers or trolls – to shape public debate by amplifying some viewpoints while supressing others. 

Emerging evidence indicates that these influence operations (IO) often reinforce the power of ruling elites while silencing opposition voices, thereby posing a threat to democracy across Southeast Asia. Given the limited understanding of this relatively recent phenomenon, this workshop seeks to bring together academics and civil society actors engaged in studying or countering  influence operations  in Southeast Asia. The goal is to discuss recent research findings and explore possible ways to deal with such operations.

22-23 August 2025:  Semarang, Diponegoro University
The workshop on 22 & 23 August constitutes the closing event of the KITLV-UNDIP-UvA research project Cyber troops and computational propaganda in Southeast Asia: A comparative study of public opinion manipulation

Key discussion topics:
- The Political Economy of IO: What private and public actors conduct IO, how do they organize themselves, and for what purposes? What economic and political factors shape the structure of IO?
- IO and Elections: In many countries, IO is intrinsically linked to election campaigning. How has IO changed electioneering? How is it linked to practices of brokerage between clients and patrons and vote-buying?
- Comparing IO: There is significant divergence in how political and economic elites utilize IO, including factors such as the level of campaign centralization, the degree of government or political party involvement, and the role of the private sector. How can we understand the variation of IO across contexts?
- Methods for Studying IO: What are the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative approaches for studying IO? How can the two possibly be combined? What challenges does one face when trying to penetrate IO networks as a researcher?
- The Evolution of IO: IO is a dynamic and evolving field influenced by ever-changing technologies, shifting platform policies, and changing political and economic contexts. What does contemporary IO look like? How is it different from earlier forms? What does the future of IO hold?
- IO and Policy-making: what initiatives or policies might be implemented to counter the negative effects of IO?

We welcome contributions from all disciplines and encourage both qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as analytic case studies and comparative research. 

Workshop format
The workshop will take place on 22 and 23 August 2025 in Semarang, Indonesia (two full days). To ensure intense, focused discussion, the event will be kept small, with a targeted 20 presentations. We will be able to fund accommodation costs for participants. We expect to publish selected, revised versions of workshop papers as an edited volume or thematic journal issue. We will discuss publication plans at the concluding session of the workshop.

Draft papers will be due 10 days before the workshop. 

Submission of Paper Proposals
Paper proposals should include the following information:
•  A tentative paper title
•  A brief description of the planned paper (no more than 250 words)
• Author details: name, institution, academic position, biographical note (no more than 100 words)

Deadline submision
Please submit your paper proposal before 15 April 2025 via our submission form.

Contact 
For questions, contact k.ruijgrok@uva.nl and wijayanto@live.undip.ac.id 

Participants will be notified by the 30th of April.