The Transmission of Islamic Populism and Extremist Ideology Through Social Media in Indonesia

Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan mengkaji transmisi ekstremisme yang terjadi di media sosial dan menjadi musabab merebaknya populisme Islam di Indonesia. Sementara kalangan beranggapan bahwa populisme identik dengan satu organisasi, yaitu FPI, dengan mobilisasi massa simbolis semisal 212, dan setelah eksistensinya terlarang ia tidak lagi menyebar dengan perhitungan yang berarti. Tulisan ini hendak mengulas bahwa di media sosial, ternyata populisme Islam justru menguat dan transmisi ekstremisme menjadi tren kalangan populis itu sendiri. Di YouTube, kanal Khilafah Channel dan Fokus Khilafah Channel concern membuat konten provokasi masyarakat dengan pemerintah sembari menyuguhkan gagasan khilafah ala HTI. Sementara itu, web keislaman seperti suaraislam.id dan kiblat.net juga masif membingkai berita seputar Muhammad Rizieq Shihab vis-à-vis polemik pemerintah. Di Facebook, akun dan fanspage representasi Muslim populis secara terstruktur tidak ada, tetapi narasi populisme bertebaran secara personal. Polarisasi ekstremisme kemudian menjadi perkara tak terhindarkan, yang bisa dilacak melalui trending tagar harian di Twitter. Para radikalis-ekstremis bersatu, dengan musuh yang sama: pemerintah, dan narasi yang seirama: menawarkan sistem baru pemerintahan yang lebih islami, yang menyebar kemudian melalui pelbagai konten di YouTube. Penelitian ini bersifat kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif analitis terhadap narasi-narasi di pelbagai platform tersebut. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa sekalipun hari-hari ini tidak ada lagi mobilisasi massa berjilid-jilid, populisme Islam tetap terlestarikan melalui transmisi ekstremisme di pelbagai platform media sosial. Sejumlah kebijakan membuat kaum populis, sementara, seolah terkerangkeng. Faktanya, tinggal menunggu momentum. Bahkan sekalipun organisasi formal mereka terlarang dan dibubarkan, eksistensi mereka tidak berkurang, hanya pindah tempat. Media sosial menjadi sarana paling aman bagi populisme Islam, ekstremisme dan benih-benihnya. Abstract This study aims to examine the transmission of extremism that occurs on social media and causes the spread of Islamic populism in Indonesia. Meanwhile, people think that populism is identical with one organization, namely FPI, with symbolic mass mobilization such as 212, and after its existence is forbidden it will no longer spread with meaningful calculations. This paper intends to review that on social media, it turns out that Islamic populism has actually strengthened and the transmission of extremism has become a trend among populists themselves. On YouTube, Khilafah Channel and Khilafah Focus Channel concern create content provoked by the public with the government while presenting the concept of HTI-style khilafah. Meanwhile, Islamic websites such as Suaraislam.id and kiblat.net also massively frame news about Muhammad Rizieq Shihab vis-à-vis the government's polemic. On Facebook, accounts and fanspages of populist Muslim representations are structurally not emerged, but the narrative of populism is scattered in a personal way. The polarization of extremism has become an inevitable matter, which can be traced through daily trending hashtags on Twitter. Radical-extremists cooperate, with the same enemy: government, and identical narratives: to offer a new, more Islamic government system, which is spread later through various contents on YouTube. This research is a qualitative study using descriptive analytical methods towards the narratives on the various platforms. The research results concluded that even though these days there are no longer mass mobilizations in huge numbers, Islamic populism is still preserved through the transmission of extremism on nomerous social media platforms. A number of policies make populists, meanwhile, seem locked up. In fact, it's just a matter of momentum. Even if their formal organization was banned and dissolved, their existence did not diminish, they just moved places. Social media is the safest vehicle for Islamic populism, extremism and its descent.