Facebook, Twitter and Instagram suddenly become a
new space to argue, debate and sometimes
consolidate. As essentially free, virtual non-
hierarchical tools that facilitate user-generated
knowledge, these online spaces may be powerful
applications for talking – or "typing" – back to the
dominant narrative and giving voice to counter-
discourse (Careless, 2015).
Social media is defined as user-controlled and
user-created because of its easiness and openness of
use. This tool can be transparent, flexible and
democratic, in which participation, collaboration,
and knowledge sharing can be forced through a
simple application. Even for those who actively
participate in the digital space –digital citizenship,
with the individuals known as netizens - they have
the opportunity to become engaged in advocating for
themselves or their society. Social media, like any
other democratic channel, provides a wider space for
questioning inequitable social, cultural, and political
systems that serve the interests of a dominant
minority, but that are embedded in everyday
practices (Careless, 2015). This characteristic allows
critical discourse to challenge the dominant
ideology. But because of its flexibility and
accessibility, social media can become a discourse-
controller while at the same time, becoming a
counter-discourse tool.
3.2 Mapping the aim of terrorism
Many terrorist acts have put the weight of
justification on the cliché saying stated that "One
person's terrorist is another person’s freedom
fighter." Such a definition leads to a highly
contested debate related to the goal of terror groups.
Fortna (2015) defines terrorists as a group that
employ a campaign of indiscriminate violence
against public civilians to target a wider audience
with the main goal to coerce the government into
making political concessions. What makes terrorism
horrible is the intentional targeting of civilians and
the randomness of the attack. Therefore, it is clear
that the aim of the terror is not limited to the victim
of the violence, but rather, it is to send a message to
the masses. For Wilkinson and Stewart, terrorism is
generally viewed as a specific method of struggle
that can be executed by various actors. Terrorism is
also highlighted as the weapon of the poor because it
aims to address political changes but is not
supported by adequate costs to achieve the goal
(Özdamar, 2008).
The act of terrorism has been used as a form of
communication with targets that symbolise the goal
of the attack. As mentioned by Thetford(2001), “…
[T]he terrorist needs to publicise his attack. If no one
knows about it, then it will not produce fear. The
need for publicity often drives target selection; the
greater the symbolic value of the target, the more
publicity that the attack brings to the terrorists and
the more fear that it generates.”
Given the characteristics, terrorism is believed to be
a social construction rather than a physical fact,
constituted through discourse. Even though the
terror is real and performed by real people, the
interpretation of such actions could be different.
Thus, it influences policy implications because the
interpretation could draw a conceptual foundation in
the policy-making process (Spencer, 2012).
The terrorist act that happened in Surabaya was
highly associated with symbolism to promote fear.
In analysing the Surabaya blast, we could not
override the riots that happened in Mako Brimob,
committed by the cell where Aman Abdurrahman,
Jamaah Ansharut Daulah’s (JAD) leader was jailed
for his association with the planning and the funding
of the Thamrin Bomb in early 2016. The riots
happened several weeks before the bombings in
Surabaya. The JAD leadership was then diverted to
Zainal Anshori, East Java’s JAD leader. However,
Anshori was captured in April 2017 due to his
involvement in funding arms moving from the
Southern Philippines to Indonesia. This information
has been confirmed by Tito Karnavian, the chief of
Indonesian National Police. Karnavian claimed that
the legal system underwent by the JAD leaders
evoked the rage of JAD members in Jawa Timur
(Sumandoyo, 2018). Surabaya’s terror was
perceived as an effort to send messages to the wider
audience that JAD could not be ruled out.
What makes the Surabaya blast different from the
previous attacks that happened in Indonesia is the
actor’s involvement, which acts as another display
of symbol to promote fear. The first bomb that
happened in Bunda Maria Tak Bercela Catholic
Church was executed by a whole family consisting
of the father, mother, and three children. The third
bomb that exploded in Mako Brimob also involved
the husband, wife and children, even though the
youngest child happened to survive.
Abdurrahman, who was sentenced to death last May,
stated that the involvement of children in suicide
bombing was a "barbaric act using the name of
Jihad" (BBC, 2018). The JAD leader believed that a
mom that leads her child in the way to detonate
suicide bomb is an act that could never be
undertaken if a person truly understands Islam and
the guidance of Jihad, as he stated in his Pledoi.