Indonesia Considers Influencer Certification, Following a Model That Worked So Well Last Time

The Indonesian government is apparently exploring rules that would force influencers to get certified before they’re allowed to talk about certain topics.^[1] The inspiration, we’re told, is China, where influencers are banned from discussing health, law, or finance unless they have the right degree or certification.^[2] In China’s case, the rule is simple: say the right thing about medicine, law, or finance, and you’d better have the paper to prove it.

Proponents of the Indonesian version say this would help tackle misinformation.^[3] In fairness, it sounds neat. People with the right training, talking about the right subjects, supervised by the right authority. The problem is that Indonesia’s most prominent test case for this exact principle—a credentialed expert, put in charge of a public-health crisis, given the full power of the state—didn’t exactly go to plan. A physician was appointed Minister of Health.^[4] He downplayed COVID-19 and was heavily criticized for his handling of it.^[5] He was replaced, mid-crisis, by an economist,^[6] who was later praised for his handling of the same pandemic.^[7]

In Indonesia’s most consequential misinformation event, the certified doctor was the one who got it wrong, and the economist was the one who got it right. Now, of course, this isn’t a controlled experiment. But it is the only data point the policy planners have, and they’ve apparently chosen to ignore it. Which is itself a kind of data point.

In my opinion, there’s something odd about a government that wants influencers credentialed while, at the same time, some heads of government bodies have backgrounds completely unrelated to the jobs they hold.^[8] And so far, that appears to be going swimmingly.

Then there’s the freedom-of-speech question, which is harder to dismiss. The current government is widely seen as heavy-handed, so you can’t really blame anyone for wondering what a new certification regime would actually be used for once the “tackling misinformation” framing wears off.^[9] “Tackling misinformation” is, like “national interest” and “public order,” one of those phrases that, in the right hands, can cover an enormous amount of ground.

A brief detour: in Indonesia, a few extra bills can reportedly turn anyone into a licensed driver.^[10] A licensed driver. Operating a vehicle. On actual roads. Around other people’s children. So when the state floats the idea of a credentialed class of public commentator, the obvious reference point is the credentialing regime Indonesia already runs. The obvious conclusion is—well. I’ll let you do the arithmetic.

For my own part, I hold a degree in transport design. Transport design. I’ve been doing journalism for years.^[11] By the logic of the proposed influencer rules, the appropriate beat for me is whatever falls out of a chassis. Maybe a bus. Maybe a very small aeroplane. It’s too bad, then, that nothing controversial is being discussed in that sector. Otherwise, I might just land myself in a gold mine.

Make of that what you will.