How TikTok’s Visual Politics Shaped Indonesia’s 2024 Election

INTRODUCTION

The 2024 Indonesian presidential election marked a watershed moment in the evolution of electoral campaigns. TikTok, a platform that had gained popularity for its entertaining short-form videos, emerged as one of the most influential arenas for political messaging, particularly among youth voters. This development was not merely technological; it also reflected deeper shifts in how Indonesians, especially the digitally-savvy generation, engage with political content.

While traditional platforms such as television, WhatsApp, and in-person conversations continue to play key roles in shaping voter perceptions, especially among older demographics, TikTok’s role in this election was anything but marginal. Nationally representative surveys confirm that although no single platform dominated across all age groups, TikTok stood out for its cultural resonance and algorithmic reach among voters aged 15 to 24, a demographic that makes up a substantial portion of Indonesia’s electorate. Plus, its highly visual and participatory nature sets it apart from other platforms such as Facebook or YouTube, even when user rates appear similar.

Indonesia, with over 66.5% of its population connected to the Internet, became TikTok’s second-largest user base in the world by February 2025, reaching 107.7 million users and surpassing the country’s user numbers on both Facebook and Instagram. TikTok’s appeal was especially strong among younger demographics, with over 50% of its users being between the ages of 18 and 40. This demographic composition mirrored the electorate, where voters under 40 accounted for more than half of the 205 million eligible voters. This convergence of demographics, digital culture, and platform design made TikTok an especially powerful force in shaping the tone, imagery, and emotion of the 2024 presidential race.

Its algorithm, optimised to amplify emotionally engaging and visually rich content, created unprecedented opportunities for political actors to generate virality at scale. For Prabowo Subianto, a long-standing political figure with a controversial past, TikTok offered a chance to fundamentally reshape his public image. Through choreographed videos, meme-able content, AI-generated visuals (including animations), and viral trends, his campaign leveraged the full suite of TikTok’s features to connect with younger voters in ways unmatched by any other medium.

ELECTRONIC VISUAL POLITICS IN INDONESIA

Over the past five decades, political communication in Indonesia has undergone profound transformations, driven by shifts in media technology and societal expectations. One critical aspect of this evolution has been the growing significance of visual politics, the strategic use of imagery, videos, and other visual media to convey political messages, shape public perceptions, and influence voter behaviour. Visual politics harnesses emotional resonance and symbolism, often simplifying complex narratives into compelling visuals.

During the Suharto era (1967–1998), state-controlled television and print media were the dominant tools for disseminating political messages. The Indonesian government back then maintained strict control over political narratives through suppression of critical voices, silencing public dissent, and promoting a carefully curated image of national leadership. During this period, electronic visual messaging was tightly controlled by the state and confined mostly to formal, meticulously staged settings such as televised speeches or ceremonial photos and videos. This approach was intentionally designed to ensure that political imagery consistently reinforced the regime’s objectives of stability and control.

All this changed with the fall of Suharto and the subsequent liberalisation of Indonesia’s media landscape and political communication. The early 2000s saw the proliferation of private television networks and the advent of the Internet created a more diverse and open media environment. By the mid-2010s, platforms like Facebook and Twitter had become important battlegrounds for political contestation, particularly during high-stakes periods such as presidential and local elections.

Understanding this shift, politicians started to capitalise on these platforms to engage directly with voters, using text and imagery to craft narratives aligned with their political goals. For instance, a 2019 study by Baulch, Matamoros-Fernandez, and Suwana revealed that Jokowi’s political campaign team strategically leveraged memetic media such as political stickers and memes on WhatsApp to shape the political narrative during his presidential campaign.

As social media platforms in Indonesia become more diverse, political actors are working harder than ever to find the right ones to shape their public image and share their political messages. Choosing the right platforms is critical for ensuring their campaigns are impactful and support their broader goals. A key part of this strategy is balancing two approaches to their image management and content creation: “professional self-personalisation” and “personal self-personalisation.” The first focuses on showcasing leadership skills and accomplishments to build trust and authority. The second aims to make politicians relatable by sharing personal stories and moments that resonate with the public. Together, these strategies helped them create carefully crafted images that could positively influence how voters perceived their characters and personalities, blending professionalism with reliability.

The interplay between professionalism and relatability in political image management is long-standing, but the methods and platforms have transformed with technological progress. The advent of the Internet and social media has accelerated this evolution, allowing politicians to connect with the public more directly, personalise their content, and amplify affective engagement while also subjecting them to heightened scrutiny and incivility. In many instances, personalised social media content not only strengthened audience engagement but also cultivated parasocial interactions.

UNDERSTANDING TIKTOK’S ALGORITHM

By 2024, TikTok had firmly established itself as a dominant social media platform in Indonesia, especially among younger audiences. Its rapid rise to prominence was not accidental but was rooted in its unique features and user-centric design. Unlike its predecessors, TikTok provided an intuitive platform for creating engaging short-form audiovisual content, equipped with a wide range of free tools. Users could easily access creative templates and a vast library of popular music, supported by TikTok’s partnerships with major global music players such as Universal Music, Warner Music and UnitedMasters. These collaborations ensured access to an endless stream of trending audio tracks, and allowed users to create professional-quality content effortlessly. By lowering the barriers to entry, TikTok effectively democratised content creation, making it accessible to everyone, from casual users to aspiring influencers and even political campaigners.

TikTok’s success was also driven by its innovative and arguably more “democratic” algorithm. Unlike many other social media platforms that prioritise content from users with large followers or those who pay for promotion, TikTok’s algorithm elevates content based on engagement metrics such as likes, shares, duets and comments. This means that virality is driven by the appeal and creativity of the content itself rather than the creator’s number of followers or financial resources. Consequently, TikTok provides an even playing field where everyday users can achieve visibility, and fosters a sense of empowerment and community that resonates strongly with Indonesia’s young and diverse audience.

The inherent design of TikTok, which rewards emotionally resonant and visually appealing content, encourages creators to prioritise relatability and entertainment over substantive discussion. As a result, intricate policy issues and critical debates are often overshadowed by meme-worthy moments and catchy visuals.

However, TikTok’s algorithm has not been without controversy. The platform admitted to employing “heating” practices, where employees strategically promoted certain videos on users’ “For You” feeds. While TikTok claimed that only 0.002% of “For You” feed videos were “heated,” this practice raised questions about transparency and the ethics of algorithmic intervention. Although the proportion appears negligible, the potential for TikTok to influence content highlights the immense power it wields in shaping digital discourse. Excessive reliance on such algorithms raises concern that public discourse could be shaped more by virality than by the significance of a topic. By seamlessly integrating entertainment, creativity, and community-building, TikTok positions itself as more than just a social media app but also a cultural phenomenon shaping trends, opinions, and even political strategies.

PRABOWO – FROM STRONGMAN TO GEMOY

Prabowo’s 2024 presidential campaign saw the use of TikTok as a powerful tool for reframing public memory. Despite his controversial past, marred by various allegations of human rights violations during his involvement in operations in Timor Leste (1975-1986) and the abduction of activists in the 1998 May riots, TikTok was instrumental in helping Prabowo rebrand himself as a softer, more approachable leader.

This shift mirrored similar strategies employed by other Southeast Asian politicians, such as Bongbong Marcos, the incumbent President of the Philippines, who successfully leveraged TikTok during his 2022 campaign to reshape public perception and downplay his family’s controversial legacy. By focusing on emotionally resonant and visually compelling content, both leaders effectively connected with younger tech-savvy voters while reframing their narratives for a broader audience.

A critical enabling factor was former President Jokowi’s endorsement. By positioning his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is under the age of 40, as vice presidential candidate through a controversial Constitutional Court ruling, Jokowi extended his political influence while helping the ticket to appeal to younger voters. Prabowo’s digital campaign strategy was also meticulously crafted; he enlisted the experienced team that twice secured Jokowi’s electoral victories in 2014 and 2019. Several former journalists, experts in social media platforms, digital advertising consultants, and AI developers with an international reputation were also involved. As a veteran politician known for his military persona, Prabowo’s digital team leveraged TikTok’s format and its algorithm to reshape his narrative through strategic visual and audiovisual campaigns that drove user engagement.

For Prabowo, the stakes in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election were particularly high. Given TikTok’s proven success in similar political contexts, the platform became an ideal tool for executing his rebranding strategy. Prabowo’s campaign utilised TikTok to showcase a more relatable side of the often-stern defence minister. Viral videos captured him dancing, interacting with children, playing with his cat, and engaging in light-hearted activities. These efforts successfully softened his image, leading to the rise of the term gemoy (cute) to describe this new persona; this was indeed a stark departure from the rigid and authoritarian figure he was once perceived as. These videos did not just entertain; they evoked an emotional connection, reinforcing his relatability while deflecting attention from his controversial past.

Prabowo’s campaign extended beyond fostering relatability by strategically leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to amplify its reach. Utilising generative AI tools, such as prabowogibran.ai and fotober2.ai, the campaign empowered supporters to create memes, parody videos, and personalised visuals that seamlessly aligned with the campaign messaging. These tools allowed Prabowo’s campaign team to mobilise its base by turning individual supporters into active content creators, extending its digital footprint and fostering a sense of grassroots participation. This also played into TikTok’s algorithmic logic, amplifying grassroots-looking content and increasing the campaign’s visibility through decentralised virality. For example, the selfie app fotober2.ai alone recorded over 2.5 million uses within six weeks, transforming everyday users into amplifiers of Prabowo’s rebranding efforts.

The campaign’s innovative use of technology extended into popular culture. Richard Jersey’s viral hit “DJ Tabrak-tabrak Masuk” was reimagined as a campaign anthem for Prabowo and Gibran. The accompanying TikTok clip, featuring catchy choreography and relatable imagery, quickly went viral, amassing over 21 million views on TikTok and 42 million views on YouTube by November 2024. High-profile celebrity endorsements added another layer of influence to the campaign. Public figures like the actor couple Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, whose joint accounts boast a follower figure of 15.9 million on TikTok lent credibility and visibility to Prabowo’s efforts. These endorsements not only amplified his reach but also helped bridge the generational and gender gaps, ensuring that his campaign appealed across the demographic spectrum.

Beyond leveraging pop culture and celebrity backing, Prabowo also took a bold step to confront his controversial past. Instead of continuing to distance himself from long-standing allegations of involvement in the 1997–98 abductions of pro-democracy activists, Prabowo addressed the issue publicly during a presidential debate in December 2023. He acknowledged ordering the activists’ release while expressing uncertainty about their subsequent fate, framing the events as part of a tumultuous historical period, and suggesting that both sides had since “moved to the middle.” Prabowo also brought several former detainees into his political coalition, signalling reconciliation and inclusion. By positioning these former detainees as allies, his campaign sought to highlight national unity and transform a once-damaging controversy into a platform for statesmanship. This seemingly calculated approach represented a significant departure from his earlier denials and reflected a deliberate effort to rebuild trust, reshape public perception, and demonstrate accountability. Short video clips featuring Prabowo responding to questions about human rights violations, often framed with conciliatory messaging, were widely circulated on TikTok, contributing to his rebranded image as a more relatable and forward-looking leader.

It is worth noting that of the 113 million TikTok users, around 31 per cent are between the ages of 17 and 30. This age group is often seen as having no direct experience of Suharto’s authoritarian era and lacking awareness about Prabowo’s military record. Generation Z support is regarded as a key factor in Prabowo-Gibran’s victory, but they have been criticised for prioritising gimmicks over historical understanding.

Prabowo’s rebranding effort extended beyond TikTok, with similar themes carried across platforms like Instagram and Facebook to create a cohesive digital narrative. This cross-platform consistency ensured that his transformed persona reached various segments of the electorate, further solidifying his appeal. However, this strategy also raised questions about authenticity and the ethics of AI-driven campaigns. To tackle concerns about authenticity, the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled in 2025 that election participants may not display images of themselves which have been excessively altered or manipulated using artificial intelligence.

Prabowo’s TikTok-driven transformation illustrates both the opportunities and challenges of visual politics in the age of digital media and AI-manipulated images. It also demonstrates the unparalleled power of platforms such as TikTok, which are tools for redefining public figures and connecting with audiences in innovative ways.

Figure 1: A digital photo captured using the FotoBer2 app on PrabowoGibran.AI

Note: to access the app, users are required to register and provide personal information, including contact details; this enables the creation of micro-targeted campaign materials. This illustrates how AI-powered tools can function as data collection mechanisms, enabling personalised content and potential microtargeting.

VISUAL POLITICS AND THE SIMPLIFICATION OF POLITICAL NARRATIVES

TikTok’s algorithmic design, while effective at engaging and mobilising voters, poses significant challenges to the quality of political discourse. The platform’s content curation system personalises users’ “For You” pages using a predictive model driven by their interaction history. This algorithmic tailoring often prioritises content that aligns with users’ preferences and reinforces existing beliefs. This leads to the formation of echo chambers that limit exposure to diverse viewpoints. Multiple studies have found that personalised algorithms, including TikTok’s, contribute to the formation of tightly-knit, ideologically homogeneous communities. These filter bubbles amplify specific narratives while suppressing dissenting opinions, further entrenching users’ pre-existing beliefs. The result is a fragmented public sphere, where individuals rarely encounter opposing perspectives or fact-checks, increasing the potential for spreading misinformation. This situation has been worsened by the phenomenon of selective beliefs, which influences the public’s receptivity to disinformation, including deepfakes.

In the context of Prabowo’s campaign, supporters were inundated with positive, highly curated audiovisual content that reinforced favourable perceptions of the candidate. The campaign leveraged TikTok’s algorithm to flood users’ feeds with light-hearted skits and emotionally charged videos that emphasised Prabowo’s relatability and leadership qualities. This content created a feedback loop of positive affirmation, where supporters were repeatedly exposed to content that validated their existing views of the candidate. While this approach boosted Prabowo’s popularity, it also contributed to the sidelining of dissenting voices and critical perspectives from the mainstream feed. Although enclave counter-narratives existed, complex questions about his policy proposals or past controversies were notably absent from dominant discourse, filtered out through algorithmically curated campaign strategies on TikTok. As a result, voters were often insulated from meaningful debate or scrutiny, limiting their ability to engage with substantive issues. Research, including Bradshaw and Howard’s study on digital propaganda, suggests that such saturation tactics are pivotal in shaping perceptions in the digital age. By overwhelming audiences with a steady stream of curated content, campaigns not only amplify a candidate’s appeal but also contribute to an ecosystem where dissent is marginalised and critical discourse is stifled. This dynamic underscores the fact that algorithm-driven platforms like TikTok are of a dual-edged nature—they can simultaneously mobilise and polarise audiences.

Additionally, TikTok’s emphasis on virality and bite-sized audiovisual content further simplified political discourse. The platform prioritised entertaining and shareable material, often at the expense of depth and nuance. While this approach facilitates a form of “playful politics” that encourages non-traditional political engagement among ordinary citizens, it risks undermining the centrality of rationality in political participation. The inherent design of TikTok, which rewards emotionally resonant and visually appealing content, encourages creators to prioritise relatability and entertainment over substantive discussion. As a result, intricate policy issues and critical debates are often overshadowed by meme-worthy moments and catchy visuals. This trend reflects a broader shift in digital political engagement, where the spectacle of politics takes precedence over its substance.

This trend reflects a broader shift in digital political engagement, where the spectacle of politics takes precedence over its substance.

The sheer volume of algorithmically curated content requires voters to approach political messaging with scepticism and discernment. Empowering voters to question and verify digital content requires not only stronger media literacy but also deeper political education.

For voters, this meant that decision-making was increasingly influenced by surface-level impressions rather than by thorough evaluations of candidates’ platforms or track records. TikTok’s ephemeral nature compounds this issue, as its short-form content often fosters superficial political activism. Engagement is frequently limited to low-effort activities such as liking, sharing, or commenting on posts, which may initially appear inclusive but ultimately risk trivialising political participation. This focus on virality risks discouraging sustained, meaningful involvement in democratic processes. While TikTok’s design enables widespread participation, it shifts the emphasis from critical thinking and dialogue to fleeting emotional reactions. This dynamic raises important questions about the long-term implications of platforms like TikTok for democratic engagement and the health of public discourse.

BALANCING TECHNOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY

The 2024 Indonesian presidential election illuminated both the potential and pitfalls of visual platforms like TikTok. While TikTok enabled unprecedented voter engagement and transformed the way candidates connected with diverse audiences, it also highlighted significant vulnerabilities in Indonesian democratic discourse. The emphasis on algorithm-driven visual politics risks reducing elections to contests of spectacle rather than substance, where emotional appeal and viral moments overshadow meaningful debates on policy and governance. Prabowo’s campaign highlighted the power of platforms like TikTok to rebrand controversial figures and reshape public perceptions. Through the strategic use of short-form audiovisual content, emotional resonance, and AI-generated media, his campaign amplified its reach and redefined his narrative. The simplification of complex political narratives into entertaining fragments not only limits voters’ understanding of substantive issues but also raises concerns about the authenticity of such rebranding efforts. The reliance on viral content redirects scrutiny of a candidate’s track record and policy proposals to their ability to generate relatability and engagement. These dynamics prompt pressing questions about the ethical boundaries of digital manipulation and their long-term effects on democratic processes.

The sheer volume of algorithmically curated content requires voters to approach political messaging with scepticism and discernment. Empowering voters to question and verify digital content requires not only stronger media literacy but also deeper political education. Equally important is the role of transparency in rebuilding public trust. Campaigns must openly acknowledge how they leverage algorithms, AI tools, and social media strategies to influence perceptions. By demystifying the mechanisms behind digital political campaigns, stakeholders can create a more informed and empowered electorate. Transparency alone, however, is insufficient; broader cultural and institutional efforts are needed to reclaim spaces for substantive political dialogue.

Indonesia’s civil society and independent media must continue to challenge the superficiality of viral political campaigns by providing spaces for in-depth discussion and scrutiny. Platforms like TikTok, while powerful tools for outreach, should not become substitutes for forums where candidates are questioned, policies are debated, and accountability is demanded. The responsibility to foster these spaces extends beyond governments and platforms to local communities, educational institutions, and grassroots organisations, which can cultivate greater political maturity and meet the public demand for substance over spectacle.

As Indonesia moves forward, the challenge lies in reconciling the transformative potential of platforms like TikTok with the need to preserve the integrity of democratic engagement. A key step is fostering both media and political literacy among citizens, and enabling them to critically assess not just digital content, but the broader systems and narratives in which that content operates.

The 2024 election serves as both a warning and an opportunity. While platforms like TikTok have proven their capacity to engage millions, their use in politics has revealed how easily the focus can shift from governance to optics, and from depth to immediacy. Moving forward, Indonesia must strive to ensure that digital innovation strengthens rather than erodes its democratic foundations. The country’s young and dynamic electorate offers immense potential to shape this future, but only if the digital tools they use are aligned with the principles of accountability, authenticity, and informed decision-making. In this era of visual politics, the balance between technology and democracy will depend on collective efforts to prioritise substance in the face of virality. If Indonesia can navigate this terrain effectively, it may offer a blueprint for other nations grappling with the complexities of digital-era elections and set a precedent for technology to enhance rather than diminish democratic engagement.

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This is an adapted version of ISEAS Perspective 2025/52 published on 21 July 2025. The paper and its references can be accessed at this link.