Indonesian netizens’ backlash at Microsoft proves digital civility study right

Microsoft seems to have made enemies in Indonesia after the country came last in Southeast Asia in the Digital Civility Index (DCI). Well, it appears that the result has come full circle, as netizens in the country have stormed the tech company’s Instagram account that it had to disable its comments section. 

Also Read ⁠— Mind your online manners: Indonesia last in Southeast Asia in digital civility study

The whole thing can be summarized with this tweet by user @miarimiari below, which has received over 10,000 retweets and 32,300 likes at the time of publishing.

Microsoft ngasih gelar netizen Indonesia paling ga sopan seasteng.

IG microsoft diserang netizen Indonesia.

Kesimpulannya microsoft langsung terbukti. Keren.

— madamia (@miarimiari) February 25, 2021

“Microsoft gave Indonesian netizens the title as the most impolite in Southeast Asia. Microsoft’s Instagram was attacked by Indonesian netizens. Microsoft’s conclusion was immediately proven. Cool,” the tweet reads.

Among the tirades launched at Microsoft include calls for boycott and offensive jabs at the company.

Despite this seemingly militant refusal to accept the digital civility study, a large number of Indonesian commenters also condemned their fellow countrymen, saying that what they did only validated Microsoft’s study. 

Microsoft today turned off the comments section on a number of their recent posts on Instagram. 

Indonesia ranked last in terms of online civility in the DCI survey, which Microsoft has conducted since 2016 in dozens of countries around the world “to promote safer, healthier, and more respectful online interactions among all people.” For this year’s edition of DCI, Microsoft surveyed over 16,000 teens and adults in more than 30 countries. 

The scoring system ranges from the scale of zero to 100, where lower scores equals better online civility. Compared to last year’s survey, Indonesia dropped eight points to 76 in the DCI, the deterioration of which is said to have been driven by adults.

Neighboring country Singapore scored best in Southeast Asia and was placed fourth globally in the index with 59 points, followed by Malaysia with 63 points, Thailand with 69 points, and Vietnam with 72 points ⁠— with the latter placing fourth among countries with the biggest improvement in DCI.

The top five countries in the world with the best scores are the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Singapore, and Taiwan.