Observers have expressed concern over the ratification of the revised Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military (TNI) as an attempt by the State to further tighten control over various aspects of public space.

This concern is associated with the revision of Article 7 of the TNI Law which increases the main tasks of soldiers in Military Operations Other Than War (OMSP) from the original 14 to 16 main tasks.

The addition of two main tasks in OMSP includes assistance in dealing with cyber defense threats as well as protecting and rescuing Indonrsian citizens and national interests abroad.

Researcher at the Department of Politics and Social Change at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Dominique Nicky Fahrizal, said that the ratification of the revised TNI Law is an effort to enlarge the role of the military in various aspects, especially in control over civilians.

One form of militarism that has been highlighted is the involvement of the TNI in controlling cyberspace.

"The deployment of TNI authority in cyberspace will strengthen the state's control through military institutions," Nicky said on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

He is of the opinion that the ratification of the revised TNI Law tends to be combined with the planned revision of Law No. 2/2022 on the National Police.

According to him, the revision of the National Police Law also gives the police the authority to control digital space, including slowing down or blocking internet access.

"If we look at these two conditions, then we can say that the state is trying to control every corner of public space so that civil liberties are increasingly narrowed," Nicky said.

He also highlighted the expansion of the TNI soldiers' OMSP in assisting the tasks of the regional government (Pemda). He said this situation was a loophole for the military to enter areas that should be managed by civilian agencies.

He cited an example of the cooperation between the TNI and the West Java Provincial Administration and the Palembang City Administration in matters of waste management, slum area development, and strategic sectors such as electricity.

"This means that militarization has occurred at the regional government level," Nicky said.

Imparsial, a pro-democracy institution, also expressed the same opinion. Based on their study, the addition of OMSP in dealing with cyber defense threats is not balanced with a formulation regarding a clear definition related to cyber defense threats.

Imparsial assessed that there is a need for clearer regulations regarding cyber defense so that there is no overlapping authority between the TNI and other institutions related to cyber.

"It is important to distinguish between cyber matters in the context of defense and cyber matters in the context of security," Imparsial Director, Ardi Manto Adiputra, said on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Meanwhile, regulations regarding cyber defense efforts and dealing with cyber attacks have also been regulated in the Ministry of Defense Regulation No. 8/2014 on Cyber Defense Guidelines.

The urgency of issuing more in-depth regulations is to differentiate the approach in the defense context which tends to deal with the threat of war and in the security context which tends to prioritize the law enforcement system.

Imparsial emphasized that this distinction is important to prevent excessive intrusion from the military into citizens, such as hacking and tapping practices.

"Therefore, it needs to be strictly regulated through derivative regulations in the form of presidential regulations or government regulations in accordance with applicable laws," Ardi said.