As Israel-Hamas war resumes, Southeast Asian cyber warriors engage in cyberbullying, doxxing against critics, govts

INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA: ONLINE ACTIVISM AND DISINFORMATION ATTACKS

In an online war against Israelis, an Indonesian-based movement called #JulidFiSabilillah has led to the doxxing and cyberbullying of members of the IDF as well as others the group perceives to be zionists, referring to those who believe in the establishment of a Jewish national state. 

Julid Fi Sabilillah means to speak critically of others in the way of god. The name of the movement is a play on the Arabic term “jihad fi sabilillah”, which means to fight in the way of god. And in Indonesian slang, julid means to gossip or speak about others in a critical or negative tone.

According to local media, the social media handles and WhatsApp mobile numbers of Israeli soldiers were disseminated online, allowing Indonesians and even Malaysians to spam such accounts with comments, messages and calls.

Several soldiers have since closed the comment section on their Instagram, while others have even lost their accounts. 

An Indonesian – who goes by the pen name Erlangga Greschinov – began the movement when he first shared the social media accounts of IDF soldiers on Nov 16. 

He told CNA via a call that he felt the need to take action after seeing Israeli soldiers on Instagram celebrating in Gaza. 

“They were dancing in the ruined city of Gaza … And I (started asking): ‘Why do these people have no regret about the atrocity (they’re committing)?’ 

“That’s why I posted on Twitter and asked ‘how about we deal with these soldiers?’, and a lot of people (decided to join me),” said Mr Erlangga. 

The movement aims to attack the narrative by the Israeli media and soldiers which depicts Palestinians negatively, he said.

“When we troll, we want to make a persuasive statement about how we should treat Palestinians … and about how we can deal with Israeli propaganda,” said Mr Erlangga. 

He added that the movement has several strategies, which include gaining the trust of Israeli soldiers in order to obtain their personal information, and sowing discord among Israelis through disinformation.

Mr Erlangga noted that some Malaysians have joined the movement but said that the current focus is on mobilising and coordinating the Indonesian netizens.  

“I don’t speak Malay and all of my announcements are in Indonesian … It takes a lot of time (to get help with translation) but … if people from any other countries want to join us, I welcome them,” he said. 

When asked if he is worried about the possibility of any legal action against him in the future, Mr Erlangga noted that Indonesia has no diplomatic relationship with Israel. 

“Israelis who feel threatened by our movement can come to us and try to begin a legal thing here. We welcome them,” he said.