President Prabowo Subianto's Video Screening In Cinemas, Forms Of Propaganda Or Public Communication?

JAKARTA Screening of President Prabowo Subianto's video in a number of cinemas has become a topic of conversation. Public voices were also divided regarding the video screening.

The big screen audience was surprised by the appearance of a video containing Prabowo's achievements and programs being screened just before the main film started. In the video with a duration of a few minutes, it contains claims for the success of the free nutritious food mainstay program (MBG) which has been running since the beginning of this year.

In addition, the video also released a number of data such as the opening of 80 thousand Red and White Village Cooperatives, the operation of 5,800 nutritional fulfillment service units (SPPG) throughout Indonesia.

Then, Prabowo's video recording also presents data on total national rice production which reached 21,760,000.000 tons in total as of August 2025, the success of printing rice fields covering 225 thousand hectares, to the success of corn exports of 1,200 tons at the beginning of the year.

The broadcast of Prabowo's video has certainly become a public conversation and has drawn various responses.

"Now every time before the screening of films in theaters there is a video advertisement for Prabowo. Watching the film pay should not be put into political advertisements, what do netizens think?" wrote an account on platform X protesting the appearance of Prabowo's video.

However, not a few also support the screening of Prabowo's video in theaters. According to netizens, this needs to be done as a way to convey the achievements of the government.

Responding to polemics in the community, Director General of Public Communication and Mendia of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Technology Fifi Aleyda Yahya said the video was part of the government's public communication.

According to him, cinemas are one of the many channels used by the government to convey information to the public, including the matter of implementing programs and policies.

Political observer and Executive Director of the Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) Dedi Kurnia Syah also has no problem with broadcasting videos of Prabowo Subianto's achievements and programs in a number of cinemas in the country.

"In general, there is no problem with the publicity carried out by the president or the presidential communication team, considering that cinemas are private spaces, so they are the same as the media in general," said Dedi via text message to VOI.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Amnesty Internasional Indonesia Usman Hamid said that the government's actions in inserting videos ahead of the screening of the main film were nothing more than an indoctrination form.

"This method is often done by authoritarian and fascist countries," said Usman.

He also urged the government to apologize publicly. Because, according to Usman, what the government is doing tends to undermine public intelligence, where the public is treated by propaganda content that is considered contrary to facts on the ground.

"Instead of forcing it by presenting coercion claims, the government should evaluate it to regain the level of public trust," he said.

A lecturer in Sociology Science from the Jakarta State University, Asep Suryana, said that the government's intervention by inserting propaganda into public spaces such as cinemas is actually not a new phenomenon in Indonesia.

In 2018, he said, former President Joko Widodo had also done the same thing, showing advertisements for government achievements ahead of the screening of the main film in theaters.

Asep suggested that the government does not carry out propaganda in public spaces. The reason is that the achievement of government programs has its own space to convey. Therefore, according to him, it is natural that the video has received strong protests from netizens for doing propaganda in public spaces.

According to him, the government's impression of forcing the broadcast of the achievement video in public spaces will actually have implications for the decreasing level of public trust.

According to Asep, what the government presented in its broadcast did not match the current real situation. "Not conducting an evaluation, the government actually intervened in public spaces with dishes that have been a public strong protest," said Asep.

Previously, similar advertisements had also been shown in Indonesian cinemas in September 2018. Towards the end of the first period of government, there were advertisements from the Joko Widodo camp. Cinemas show advertisements for the success of the construction of a number of dams in the country. The advertisement is entitled 2 Seasons, 65 Dams.

The ad features the voice of President Jokowi himself. Of course, complete with the government's typical rigid slogan #MENJUINDONESIAJU. The 4:30 minute video only shows the success of the government.