JAKARTA - The Indonesia Digital Cyber Institute (IDCI) highlights the phenomenon of excessive dependence on digital technology or public addiction. IDCI assesses that Indonesia needs mind sovereignty amidst the onslaught of global algorithms.
"The proportion of our time in cyberspace is now almost balanced with sleep and living in the physical world. This is not only a lifestyle change, but also the formation of a new awareness space for the mindspace, identity space, and interaction space," said Researcher at the Indonesia Digital Cyber Institute (IDCI), Taufiq A Gani, in his statement, Tuesday, April 29.
Based on the Digital 2025 Global Overview Report released by We Are Social and Meltwater in February 2025, it was noted that the Indonesian people spent an average of 7 hours 22 minutes per day on the internet. This figure places Indonesia in 17th place in the world and is included in the top five highest in Southeast Asia.
As a comparison, developed countries such as the United States (6 hours 40 minutes), Britain (5 hours 36 minutes), Germany (5 hours 28 minutes), South Korea (5 hours 22 minutes), and Japan (4 hours 09 minutes) have a duration of daily internet exposure.
According to IDCI, the high level of digital exposure of the Indonesian people is not balanced with a collective awareness protection system. When public opinion is formed by an algorithm designed based on engagement logic and profit, the nation's awareness space can be easily controlled by outsiders.
"We have been struggling with data security and infrastructure for too long. Meanwhile, the architecture of people's thinking is being led by a system that we don't design, we don't control," continued Taufiq.
According to Taufiq, this phenomenon is not just speculation. A number of independent studies, including the writings of Asma Mir on the Medium platform (How Social Media Algorithms Shape Our Reality), reveal that social media algorithms have now become personal reality architects. By filtering content based on user preferences and emotions, the algorithm creates a digital echo chamber that strengthens bias, triggers polarization, and accelerates the spread of disinformation.
IDCI considers that this kind of dominance threatens the diversity of thinking, weakens people's ability to dialogue across views, and ultimately weakens the foundations of democracy and social cohesion.
IDCI emphasizes that the current digital literacy approach is still too technical and sectoral. Literacy is not just the ability to access information, but the ability to build a collective thinking immune system. For this reason, a national doctrine is needed that places public awareness as a strategic area that must be maintained.
"This is not just a matter of literacy, but a matter of sovereignty. A nation that is unable to manage its way of thinking will be easily directed by narratives formed outside of itself," said Taufiq.
IDCI also proposes four main pillars to build the nation's cognitive defense system. First, build the nation's ability to compile and disseminate narratives about itself in a complete, honest, and dignified manner. Second, strengthen the media, cultural, and digital education ecosystem that is able to form critical awareness and national identity.
Third, the State must be present in the management of information distribution systems so that they are not fully controlled by market logic and foreign interests. Fourth, build a monitoring system for the direction of public opinion, polarization, and disinformation as part of the national defense system.
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IDCI also calls for all elements of the government nation, academics, media, industry players, and civil society to unite to build mutual awareness that today's national defense is not only a matter of land or data, but about thoughts.
"The true sovereignty is when this nation is able to think in its own way. In the digital era, defending the mind is the highest form of defending independence," concluded Taufiq.
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