Netray Monitoring Of Cak Nun Trending On Twitter Referring To Jokowi As Pharaoh

JAKARTA – Humanist Emha Ainun Nadjib alias Cak Nun apologized for his statement referring to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as Firaun (Pharaoh) and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as Haman.

He admitted that he was kesambet (possessed) while giving a lecture. Possessed here is the inability to control one's speech.

“I was scolded by my family, taught, wronged, fooled, and called as misguiding. Why they bullied me, because I said something I shouldn't have said,” said Cak Nun conveying his apology via the YouTube channel CakNun.com on January 17.

As a teacher, according to Cak Nun, it is inappropriate for him to violate what he has taught to his congregation himself.

"I was the one who taught not to say who, but what, I myself violated it, which means I apologize to the family, including Sabrang, who taught me with all his might, because I wanted what I myself taught not to do,” he said.

So, according to Cak Nun, "Everything that was splashed out became uncomfortable or suffered or became anything else by my words."

The video clip from Cak Nun's lecture, which offended President Jokowi, has indeed become a trending topic on Twitter.

In the video Cak Nun says, "The election results show the level of maturity of the people, even the election algorithm, for example the 2024 election it's impossible to win, someone has already won from now on, someone has already won"

"Because Indonesia was already ruled by a Pharaoh whose name was Jokowi, by Qorun whose name was Anthony Salim and 10 Dragons. Not nine, now 10. Then Haman whose name is Luhut," said Cak Nun.

Likewise after Cak Nun apologized. The discussion on this topic is still hot on Twitter. According to Netray's monitoring on 14-22 January 2023, the discussion started active two days after Cak Nun delivered the controversial lecture at the Maiyah event in Tamantirto, Bantul, which is on 16 January 2023.

Found 4,831 tweets containing the keyword Cak Nun. Meanwhile, tweets with the keyword kesambet have only begun to be widely used since January 18, 2023 or after Cak Nun apologized.

"The conversation referring to Cak Nun reached its peak on January 18, 2023, with a total of 18,866 tweets. In general, the intensity of the conversation was observed to subside for a few days after that. Even though it was still quite high until the end of the monitoring period," wrote Netray.

During the nine days of monitoring, Netray Media Monitoring found 76,618 tweets. The impression of these uploads was monitored by 38.6 million times in the form of replies, retweets, and favorites. Potentially, discussions related to Cak Nun's lecture can reach at least up to 114.3 million Indonesian-language Twitter accounts.

Broadly speaking, tweets with negative sentiments dominate the conversation. The total reached 50,911 tweets, and only 12,809 tweets had positive sentiment. The rest are tweets with neutral sentiment. Tweets with negative sentiment also peaked on January 18, 2023, coinciding with the spike in conversations with the keyword kesambet.

Attackers and Defenders of Cak Nun

A number of monitored accounts dominate the conversation with high impressions. Taking first place is the account @ekowboy2 which has collected at least 30,328 total impressions. This account made a series of tweets that mostly defended Cak Nun.

@ekowboy2 also builds the narrative of the attackers, the figure of Cak Nun is a group of supporters of Ganjar Pranowo, who are used to insulting Anies Baswedan.

The @Dennysiregar7 account is the account that has the second most impressions. The tweet from this account seems to have a different point of view from the @ekowboy2 account. @Dennysiregar7 saw that Cak Nun's lecture calling President Jokowi a Pharaoh was a mistake. Because it is not Cak Nun's portion to talk politics.

These uploads from @Dennysiregar7 indirectly catapulted the popularity as a buzzword or a popular term in a specific context on the Twitter timeline. The tweet he made on January 19, 2023 became the most popular tweet.

“The term kesambet then became a popular term during the monitoring period. This word is most often used with firaun, presidents and Jokowi, which refer to Cak Nun's lectures," Netray stressed.

Deputy Minister of Religion (Wamenag) Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi said freedom of expression, both criticism and suggestions, should be done in a polite, wise and ethical manner, not in a sarcastic way and violating moral, legal and religious norms.

"It is not permissible in the name of da'wah to express harsh words, spread hate speech, hoax, slander, play one against another, be objective and act unfairly. Religious figures should also make the lecture hall a public educational space that is enlightening and inspiring," said Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi.