Indonesian army wields Internet ‘news’ as a weapon in Papua

Papuan youth using smartphones in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. With a name that translates as "Our Papuan People's News" and claiming 80,000 views per month, kitorangpapuanews.com is one of three of the military-sponsored websites that registered its address as the Media Center at Kodam Jayakarta, the army's regional command headquarters based in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. — Reuters

JAKARTA/LONDON: As Indonesia celebrated its National Heroes' Day last year, official military social media accounts lavished praise on Corporal Yunanto Nugroho for the "myriad awards he has won in the field of IT".

It was unusual acclaim for a low-ranking army computer operator. But Yunanto's work is not confined to the usual mundane tasks of an information technology specialist.