Community-Based Symbolic Audit As An Emerging Accountability Regime: Digital Vigilance, Regulatory Capture, And Asset Forfeiture Reform In Indonesia
Kata Kunci:
Symbolic Audit, Digital Accountability, Regulatory Capture, Illicit Enrichment, Asset Forfeiture, Civil Society Monitoring, Unexplained Wealth, IndonesiaAbstrak
This article examines how regulatory capture enables oligarchic hegemony and subnational executive abuse in Indonesian elections, while exploring civic-led alternatives particularly community-based symbolic auditing to improve electoral governance, asset transparency, and accountability regimes. Drawing on qualitative document analysis and digital ethnography of the Instagram account @cabinetcouture_idn (which was geo-restricted by Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs in mid-2026), we analyze how civil society crowdsources visual verification of unexplained wealth accumulation when formal institutions fail. We argue that symbolic auditing represents a hybrid accountability mechanism that leverages digital platforms, visual analysis, and public discourse to expose asset misappropriation that formal asset reporting systems (LHKPN) systematically miss due to self-reporting bias and administrative opacity. Our analysis reveals three critical findings: (1) the structural vulnerability of formal wealth declaration systems to deliberate underreporting and omission; (2) the technological and social efficacy of crowdsourced visual monitoring in detecting and estimating the market value of high-net-worth assets held by public officials; and (3) the state's counterintuitive response to suppress digital accountability rather than investigate substantive claims of unexplained wealth. We recommend a three-pronged reform agenda: (a) mandatory photographic asset inventories integrated with blockchain-verified ownership chains; (b) legal frameworks protecting civic digital auditing as a form of legitimate civic participation; and (c) illicit enrichment provisions with lower evidentiary burdens aligned with UNCAC protocols. This article contributes to debates on digital governance, accountability pluralism, and asset recovery in contexts where formal institutions are captured by elites they purport to regulate.
Referensi
R., Fred Warren. (1964). Administration in developing countries the theory of prismatic society. 1917-2008,
AMargaret S. (1998). Critical realism essential readings, 1943-2023,. https://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:443/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=008271088&sequence=000002&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
C., Patrick, & 1960-, D., Jean-Pascal. (1999). Africa works disorder as political instrument, 1951-2014,.
M., Daniel. (1987). Material culture and mass consumption. UCL Discovery (University College London) 1954. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=000501190&sequence=000001&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
Agamben, G., & Attell, K. (2004). State of Exception. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226009261.001.0001
Akbar, Y. H., & Vujić, V. (2014). Explaining corruption. Cross Cultural Management An International Journal, 21(2), 191–218. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccm-03-2013-0050
Alatas, S. H., Cameron, L., & Chaudhuri, A. (2016). Corruption, inequality, and ethnic diversity. International Review of Law and Economics, 46, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irle.2016.02.003
Aspinall, E. (2010). Parties and the survival of authoritarianism in comparative perspective. Journal of Democracy, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.0.0148
Aspinall, E., & Feith, K. (2010). Constituency representation in Indonesia: Legislative behaviour and political incentives. In Problems of democratisation in Indonesia: Elections, institutions and society. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Bailard, C. S. (2012). Toward a theory of political learning in the digital age. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 9(3), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2012.663177
Bathke, A., & Chilton, J. (2013). Participatory budgeting: A promising approach for civic participation. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(2), 340–356. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12028
Bauhr, M., & Grimes, M. (2014). Indignation or resignation: The implications of transparency for subjective well-being over time. Political Psychology, 35(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12052
Belk, R. W., Ger, G., & Askegaard, S. (2003). The Fire of Desire: A Multisited Inquiry into Consumer Passion. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(3), 326–351. https://doi.org/10.1086/378613
Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2012). THE LOGIC OF CONNECTIVE ACTION. Information Communication & Society, 15(5), 739–768. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2012.670661
Bevir, M., & Rhodes, R. A. W. (2003). Interpreting British Governance. In ePrints Soton (University of Southampton). University of Southampton. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203352311
Bjorkman, M., & Svensson, J. (2009). Power auctions: A mechanism for information revelation and preference aggregation. Journal of Public Economics, 93, 1291–1302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.09.004
Bó, E. D. (2006). Regulatory Capture: A Review. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 22(2), 203–225. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grj013
Booth, D., & Cammack, D. (2013). Governance for Development in Africa: Solving Collective Action Problems. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=026252229&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
Bourdıeu, P. (2018). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (pp. 141–150). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680347-10
Bovens, M. (2007). Analysing and Assessing Accountability: A Conceptual Framework1. European Law Journal, 13(4), 447–468. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0386.2007.00378.x
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/qrj0902027
Bracci, E., Saliterer, I., Sicilia, M., & Steccolini, I. (2021). Accounting for (public) value(s): reconsidering publicness in accounting research and practice. Open Access at Essex (University of Essex), 34(7), 1513–1526. https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-06-2021-5318
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bruijn, M. de, Nyamnjoh, F. B., & Brinkman, I. (2009). Mobile Phones: The New Talking Drums of Everyday Africa. In Langaa RPCIG eBooks. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvk3gmgv
Buehler, M. (2016). The politics of shari’a law: Contentious politics and democratization in Indonesia. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316459638
Buolamwini, J., & Gebru, T. (2018). Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification. 77–91. http://proceedings.mlr.press/v81/buolamwini18a/buolamwini18a.pdf
Busuioc, M., & Lodge, M. (2015). The Reputational Basis of Public Accountability. Governance, 29(2), 247–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12161
Carpenter, D., & Moss, D. A. (2013). Preventing Regulatory Capture: Special Interest Influence and How to Limit It. Cambridge University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139565875
Cascais, A. F. (2014). Asset recovery and illicit enrichment: International standards and best practices. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Committee to Protect Journalists. (2026). Indonesia geo-blocks social media account. CPJ Statement.
Corruption, inequality, and the rule of law: the bulging pocket makes the easy life. (2009). Choice Reviews Online, 46(6), 46–3495. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-3495
Coury, D. (2016). The politics of accountability: Making governance monitoring work for the poor. Economic and Political Weekly, 51(10), 64–70.
Danermark, B., Ekström, M., & Karlsson, J. Ch. (2001). Explaining Society: Critical Realism in the Social Sciences. Medical Entomology and Zoology. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=009520924&sequence=000002&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
Denzin, N. K. (1978). Sociological methods: A sourcebook. McGraw-Hill.
Diamond, L. (2005). Assessing the Quality of Democracy. In Johns Hopkins University Press eBooks. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://doi.org/10.56021/9780801882869
Dijck, J. van, Poell, T., & Waal, M. de. (2018). The Platform Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001
Dijk, T. A. van. (1993). Elite Discourse and Racism. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483326184
Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_and_Danger
Dubnick, M. J. (2014). Accountability and the Promise of Performance: In Search of the Mechanisms. University of New Hampshire Scholars Repository (University of New Hampshire at Manchester), 28(3), 376–417. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2005.11051839
Earl, J., Maher, T. V., & Pan, J. (2022). The digital repression of social movements, protest, and activism: A synthetic review. PubMed Central, 8(10). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl8198
Ebrahim, A., & Weisband, E. (2007). Global Accountabilities : Participation, Pluralism, and Public Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511490903
Edwards, M. (2014). Civil society. Polity Press.
Financial Action Task Force. (2020). Guidance on unexplained wealth orders. FATF Publications.
Galtung, F. (2006). A note on monitoring and evaluation of anti-corruption work. U4 Center for Development Finance.
Gillespie, T. (2010). The politics of ‘platforms.’ New Media & Society, 12(3), 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809342738
Gorwa, R. (2019). What is platform governance? Information Communication & Society, 22(6), 854–871. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2019.1573914
Grant, R. W., & Keohane, R. O. (2005). Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics. American Political Science Review, 99(1), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055405051476
Habermas, J., Bürger, T., & Lawrence, F. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere : an inquiry into a category of Bourgeois society. http://is.muni.cz/publication/113003?predmet=311267;lang=cs
Harber, M., Maroun, W., & Ricquebourg, A. J. D. de. (2023). Audit firm executives under pressure: A discursive analysis of legitimisation and resistance to reform. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 97, 102580–102580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2023.102580
Harrison, G. (2006). Reshaping national governance: The role of the World Bank in poverty reduction. Review of African Political Economy, 33(109), 389–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056240601000205
Hasty, J. (2005). The Pleasures of Corruption: Desire and Discipline in Ghanaian Political Culture. Cultural Anthropology, 20(2), 271–301. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2005.20.2.271
Hayward, C. R. (2004). De-facing power. Polity Press.
Helbing, D., Frey, B. S., Gigerenzer, G., Hafen, E., Hagner, M., Hofstetter, Y., Hoven, J. van den, Zicari, R. V., & Zwitter, A. (2018). Will Democracy Survive Big Data and Artificial Intelligence? In University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (pp. 73–98). University of Groningen. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90869-4_7
Heywood, P. (2017). Rethinking corruption: Hocus pocus, locus and focus. Slavonic & East European Review, 95(1), 21–48. https://doi.org/10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.95.1.0021
Hickey, S. (2010). The Government of Chronic Poverty: From Exclusion to Citizenship? The Journal of Development Studies, 46(7), 1139–1155. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2010.487100
Hindman, M. (2008). The Myth of Digital Democracy. In Princeton University Press eBooks. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837496
Hine, C. (2015). Ethnography for the Internet : Embedded, Embodied and Everyday. In Bloomsbury Academic eBooks. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474218900
Holloway, R. (2011). Accountability in political processes. In Let’s do it: The role of aid in political processes in Asia. ActionAid Asia.
Hussain, M., & Howard, P. N. (2013). Democracy’s fourth wave?: digital media and the Arab Spring. Choice Reviews Online, 51(4), 51–2322. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-2322
Hutchcroft, P. D. (1998). Booty Capitalism. In Cornell University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501738630
Indonesia Corruption Watch. (2026). Response to @cabinetcouture account blocking. In Press Statement.
Karsten, N., & Moilanen, K. (2014). In search of a legitimacy gap: Support for democracy and state institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 53(3), 567–587. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12047
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2011). The worldwide governance indicators: Methodology and analytical issues. The World Bank Economic Review, 25(3), 353–383. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhr016
Komdigi, P. R. (2026). Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs statement on account blocking.
Kozinets, R. V. (2015). Netnography: Redefined. SAGE Publications.
KPK, K. P. K. (2026). Asset preservation and labuksi training materials. Indonesian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Legal Scholars Statement. (2026). Joint statement on constitutional concerns regarding account geo-blocking. Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, July 20, 2026.
Liechty, M. (2002). Suitably Modern: Making Middle-Class Culture in a New Consumer Society. Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University). https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691221748
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2000). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited. In Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 163–188). SAGE Publications.
Loader, B. D., & Mercea, D. (2011). NETWORKING DEMOCRACY? Information Communication & Society, 14(6), 757–769. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2011.592648
Lury, C. (2011). Consumer culture. Polity Press.
Mansuri, G., & Rao, V. (2012). Localizing Development: Does Participation Work? In RePEc: Research Papers in Economics. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-8256-1
Mathur, N. (2016). Paper tiger: The bureaucratic mechanics of state power in contemporary India. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199460786.001.0001
Mattingly, D. (2016). Elite Capture. World Politics, 68(3), 383–412. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0043887116000083
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. SAGE Publications.
Miller, D. (2012). Consumption and Its Consequences. UCL Discovery (University College London). https://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:443/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=025195012&sequence=000002&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
Mold, A., Adeyinka, O., & Mukhopadhyay, S. (2012). Non-communicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reassessing the direction of the health aid agenda. Globalization and Health, 8, 36. https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-8603-8-36
Moyn, S. (2022). Humanitarianism: A moral history of the present. W.W. Norton & Company.
Newell, P. (2008). Lost in translation? Domesticating global policy on climate change adaptation. Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.11.001
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. In Medical Entomology and Zoology (Issue 1). Japan Society of Medical Entomology and Zoology. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA55243300
Pax technica: how the Internet of things may set us free or lock us up. (2015). Choice Reviews Online, 53(3), 53–1320. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.192363
Plantin, J. (2018). Data Cleaners for Pristine Datasets: Visibility and Invisibility of Data Processors in Social Science. Science Technology & Human Values, 44(1), 52–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243918781268
PPATK, (Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan). (2026). Asset concealment mechanisms in corruption cases: Training materials. Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center, Indonesia.
Quah, J. S. (2011). Defying gravity: Can Singapore’s anti-corruption strategy be replicated? Public Administration Review, 71(6), 880–890. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02419.x
RakyatPos Network. (2026). Diblokir komdigi, akun tata busana kabinet makin tumpah di barang mewah resmi, Meutya Hafid kena kena. RakyatPos.
Rawls, J. (1993). Political liberalism. Columbia University Press.
Reporters Without Borders. (2026). Indonesia: Government geo-blocks social media account. In RSF Statement.
Rispoli, F., & Vannucci, A. (2025). “Alloyed Networks” Against Corruption: Between Community Engagement and ICTs. International Journal of Politics Culture and Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-025-09538-0
Roberts, S. (2019). Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300245318
Rose-Ackerman, S. (2008). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511492822
Rothstein, B., & Varraich, A. (2017). Making Sense of Corruption. In Cambridge University Press eBooks. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316681596
Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE Publications.
SALSABILA, A. Z. (2025). PERSPEKTIF KEBIJAKAN PELAPORAN HARTA KEKAYAANPEJABAT PUBLIK DALAM UPAYA PEMBERANTASANTINDAK PIDANA KORUPSI. In Digilib Repository Unila (Lampung University). Lampung University.
Schedler, A., Diamond, L., & Plattner, M. F. (1999). The Self Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=008315932&sequence=000001&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA
Schmitt, C., Strong, T. B., & Strauss, L. (2007). The Concept of the Political: Expanded Edition. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9659481M/The_Concept_of_the_Political
Schultz, P. W., & Flanagan, M. (2016). Expanding the landscape of civic engagement and political participation. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215621066
Schwandt, T. A. (2000). Three epistemological stances for qualitative inquiry: Interpretivism, hermeneutics, and social constructionism. 189–213. https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/three-epistemological-stances-for-qualitative-inquiry-interpretiv
Slater, D. (1997). Consumer culture and modernity. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1004316M/Consumer_culture_and_modernity
Stigler, G. J. (1971). The Theory of Economic Regulation. The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, 2(1), 3–3. https://doi.org/10.2307/3003160
Sulaksono, E., Efendi, S., & Mukimin, A. (2018). Legal protection for whistleblower civil servants in corruption cases. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Judicial Administration.
Susanti, L. (2015). CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS FOR ILLICIT ENRICHMENT: COMPARING APPROACHES OF THE USE OF INDIRECT METHODS OF PROOF IN INVESTIGATING ILLICIT ENRICHMENT IN INDONESIA AND THE U.S. Indonesian Journal of International Law, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.17304/ijil.vol13.1.643
Suzor, N. P., Dijck, V. J., & Flew, T. (2019). Governing the digital public sphere. Internet Policy Review, 8(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.2.1407
Swarup, A. (2025). The Art of Valuing Art: Economic, Symbolic, and Digital Determinants of Pricing. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 10(10), 5029–5051. https://doi.org/10.46609/ijsser.2025.v10i10.029
Tessman, B. F. (2012). System Structure and State Strategy: Adding Hedging to the Menu. Security Studies, 21(2), 192–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2012.679203
Tonderai, K., & Nirmala, D. (2024). Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Promoting Transparency in Collaborative Governance through Non-State Actors: A Comparative Case Analysis of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 85–103. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.797
Transcrime. (2013). Unexplained wealth orders: A comparative study. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Publications.
Transparency International. (2018). Corruption Perceptions Index 2018. Transparency International Publications.
Tüfekçi, Z. (2014). Engineering the public: Big data, surveillance and computational politics. First Monday. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i7.4901
Tüfekçi, Z. (2017). Twitter and Tear Gas. The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. MEDIAREP. https://doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/14848
Tufekci, Z. (2018). YouTube, the great radicalizer. New York Times.
Umam, A. K., Whitehouse, G., Head, B., & Khan, M. A. (2018). Addressing Corruption in Post-Soeharto Indonesia: The Role of the Corruption Eradication Commission. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 50(1), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2018.1552983
UNODC. (2012). Corruption prevention handbook: Guidance for anti-corruption agencies and organizations. UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). (2009). Guidance for asset recovery. UN Publications.
Veblen, T. (1899). The theory of the leisure class. Dover Publications.
Wartadigital.id. (2026). Kerap sorot gaya hidup mewah pejabat, akun IG “cabinetcouture” diblokir komdigi. Warta Digital.
Weerakkody, V., & Dissanayake, G. (2013). e-Government maturity: Current situation and future directions. Public Management Review, 15(2), 209–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2012.708871
Widiartana, G. (2025). Regulating Illicit Enrichment into Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Legal Reform Regime. Neoclassical Legal Review Journal of Law and Contemporary Issues, 4(2), 106–112. https://doi.org/10.32734/nlrjolci.v4i2.20794
Yochai, B. (2006). The wealth of networks: how social production transforms markets and freedom. Choice Reviews Online, 44(2), 44–999. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.44-0999
YouTube, V. A. (2026). BONGKAR HARGA OUTFIT PEJABAT! Akun Instagram ini bagikan harga fantastis barang yang dipakai DPR.
