Dinda Shabrina, Jakarta – The Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta) and the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) condemned the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Tempo's news website. The attack lasted from Sunday, April 6, to Thursday, April 10.
AJI Jakarta chairman Irsyan Hasyim suspects the attack was triggered by Tempo's publication of a report on the online gambling business in Cambodia, released on April 6. He urged the public and any parties aggrieved by the report to exercise their right of reply or file a complaint directly with the Press Council. "As required by the Press Law," Irsyan stated in an official release on Friday, April 11.
He also called on the Indonesian National Police to promptly investigate the cyberattack. "We urge the police to thoroughly investigate digital attacks and hacking incidents, including those experienced by earlier victims," he said.
LBH Pers director Mustafa SH stated that the attack constitutes an attempt to obstruct press freedom. "Article 18, Paragraph (1) of Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press stipulates that anyone who hinders press freedom may face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to Rp500 million," he said.
Just four hours after the gambling article was published, Tempo's server was overwhelmed by traffic at around 1 p.m. "The site was hit with 479 million access requests in just two hours. In total, the DDoS attack generated 3 billion requests," Irsyan explained. As a result, several articles became inaccessible, particularly premium pages featuring the gambling investigation.
AJI Jakarta has recorded six cyberattacks targeting media outlets to date. In 2024 alone, at least 73 cases of violence against journalists and media organizations were reported.
This is not the first time Tempo has faced a cyberattack, Irsyan added. On August 21, 2020, unidentified individuals carried out a defacement attack, briefly taking control of the homepage, changing it to a black screen, and playing the patriotic song Gugur Bunga. A message on the site read: "Stop Hoaxes, Do Not Lie to the Indonesian People. Return to true journalistic ethics, comply with the Press Council. Do not serve only those who pay. Deface by @xdigeeembok."
Irsyan noted that the incident was reported to authorities, but the hackers and their motives remain unknown to this day.