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Research finds student protests dominate social media discussions

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Tempo - June 25, 2026

Andi Adam Faturahman, Jakarta – The tracking and analysis agency Binocular Media Monitoring has released research results on monitoring conversations in social media throughout June 2026. The monitoring was done using Big-big Data Analytics tools.

Through the Newstensity dashboard, the Manager of News Analytics, Nicko Mardiansyah, stated that the monitoring results show that student protests were the most widely discussed topic on social media, with a total of 14,035 conversations.

Nicko stated in a written press release on Thursday, June 25, 2026, that the protests by the Student Executive Board of the University of Indonesia (UI), Trisakti University, Esa Unggul University, and various other student elements topped the list with 14,035 conversations.

The next issue that received close attention, he continued, was the statement by Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar regarding the hope for peaceful protests, which recorded 7,232 conversations.

In third place, the topic about the polemic of Bung Karno University Student Executive Board (BEM UBK) denying a meeting with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka resulted in 6,114 conversations, followed by the demand for non-repressive authorities in protests with 5,998 conversations.

"The statement by Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indrawijaya regarding the cheaper price of Pertamax in Indonesia compared to other countries ranked fifth with 5,149 conversations," Nicko said.

According to him, the series of issues that became the main topic on social media shows that student protests evolved into layered conversations. The data shows that the public not only discusses those who are demonstrating.

However, Nicko mentioned that conversations also shifted towards how state officials respond, the attitude of security forces towards security, and how student demands relate to economic issues and government policies.

"This interweaving indicates that the issue of demonstrations is not only positioned as a field event but also a space for narrative battles between student aspirations, state responses, and public attention," he said.

Therefore, based on the findings of the media monitoring, Nicko added, Binocular considers that the management of student protest issues needs to be handled with a more measured communication approach.

The government and state institutions must ensure that the public response goes beyond calls for order and addresses the substance of the students' and other community members' demands.

"Public communication regarding demonstration issues needs to be based on data and substance. Responses must be relevant, not just emphasizing speed. If the response is merely normative, the digital space will continue to seek its own answers through narratives that may not be accurate," Nicko said.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2110432/research-finds-student-protests-dominate-social-media-discussion

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