ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the power sustainability of Soeharto through tight control of information media. He banned newspapers and other publications linked to the Old Order, the Indonesian Communist Party, and activists who voiced their criticisms of his leadership style. Using a historical method to collect and analyze data, this study discovers that the integrity, security, and stability of the New Order strongly relied on the one-sided information policy. It involved the creation, processing, distribution, access, and use of information. Book banning, media censorship, “telephone culture”, and the license revocation of news publications characterized the implementation of this policy at the cost of the people’s freedom of expression. The New Order regime did not hesitate to launch a Third World communication satellite following the USA and Canada in order to integrate the nation under Bahasa Indonesia and one undisputed state ideology, Pancasila. The goal is clear, namely to maintain the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. This study also shows that although the regime exercised its self-styled control over information media for years without any significant resistance, it failed to do the same with the emergence of the Internet.
