Indonesian Reporting Commission Facebook Takedowns

Overview

The Indonesian Reporting Commission Facebook Takedowns refers to a Facebook community controversy between the group Indonesian Reporting Commission (IReC) and a number of other Facebook pages in mid-May 2019. The IReC page is rumored to have issued various takedowns of other Facebook pages, starting with the meme page Crossovers Nobody Asked For (CNAF). In response to the takedowns, often referred to as zuccing, members of targeted pages subsequently engaged in mass reporting of the Indonesia Reporting Commission, while others either set their groups from closed to secret. Additionally, rumors began circulating that the admin of IReC was doxed in reaction to the events and assaulted, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Background

Crossovers Nobody Asked For (CNAF) Facebook group was a page known for featuring memes commenting on a wide variety of cultural topics. Prior to its removal, it had accumulated nearly 500,000 members. On May 13th, 2019, CNAF was removed from the platform, causing a backlash among members of the group who created the page "CNAF Season 2," which was removed the following day. Former CNAF members subsequently began speculating that the IReC page was responsible for the takedowns.

IReC was rumored to have posted a screenshot mocking the removal of the CNAF and Nonsense Meme pages, though the IReC page has since been unpublished following the massive backlash.

Notable Developments

Meme Group Responses

Similar Facebook groups decided to set their group privacy from "closed" to "secret" to prevent additional takedowns, including the Marvel Shieldposting group and other meme pages (shown below).

Solidarity with CNAF

Meme groups that have not been taken down have stood in solidarity with CNAF and pledge to resist IReC, including members of now defunct Top Tier Sad Memes and Tom and Jerry Cheeseposting. Members of the Indonesian community have also responded with criticism of IReC.

Fake Accounts

After IReC was unpublished, many members of the Facebook community have pointed out multiple accounts and groups that are involved with the banning of meme groups. However, many of the other members have also pointed out that these accounts happen to be either fake or duplicates and are meant to incite paranoia and distrust.

Identification of the Admin

Rumors that the Indonesian resident Muhammad Salim had been identified as the admin of the page began circulating online, along with his alleged name, address, phone number and voter registration information. Other rumors circulated that an Indonesian group had beaten Salim in real life, leading him to delete all of his social media accounts.

The Indonesian group Teman-teman Bulu Burung (Feather Friends) announced that Salim would later release an official statement regarding the Facebook drama (shown below).

Salim's Apology

On May 16th, 2019, the Teman-teman Bulu Burung page published a translated version of an apology letter allegedly written by Salim:

To every victim of IReC wrongdoings: [I], Muhammad Salim as leader [and founder] of IReC… apologize to everyone who become victim [of us] in time IReC's still become a page. My reason for that wrongdoing was to delete or destroyed everything negative in Facebook, like, SARA [religious offensive jokes], hoax, and others, who break Facebook rules. Also, our motive to attack non-Indonesian group, like NSM and CNA, because [I found] some hate-speech or religious offensive jokes. I'm deeply sorry for what happened to everyone, and to our wrongdoings. I, as leader of IReC, will stop IReC's operation, and we will take responsibility for everything happened.
-Muhammad Salim

Facebook Response

"We removed several Groups from Facebook after detecting content that violated our policies. We since discovered that this content was posted to sabotage legitimate, non-violating Groups. We’re working to restore any Groups affected and to prevent this from happening again."^[6]

Notable Examples

Search Interests

External References