The Islamophobia controversy in Nussa dan Rarra cartoon film: an insight into Indonesian netizens’ tweets

ABSTRACT

This article examines the Islamophobia controversy over the Nussa dan Rarra cartoon film (NRCF) on Twitter (X). This controversy was initially triggered by two influencers that became a trending topic. The study employed a qualitative method with a moral panic theory approach. The primary data was tweets on Twitter containing comments on the NRCF. Data analysis was done through five stages of the moral panic process. The trigger tweet’s main issue in the NRCF was the figure behind the scenes, Felix Siauw, with his Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). The pro and contra responses went back and forth to debate the themes of NRCF’s negative labels, such as costume, manner, Taliban, and radicalism, as a threat to society. This study found that the effort to evoke Islamophobia has not succeeded in causing panic because the majority of society and authorities do not support it, making the film still survive to this day.

KEYWORDS:

• Islamophobia
• Nussa dan Rarra cartoon film; moral panic
• Twitter(X)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heksa Biopsi Puji Hastuti

Heksa Biopsi Puji Hastuti, Riani Riani, and Hasina Fajrin R. are researchers in the Research Center for Language, Literature, and Community. The Research Center for Language, Literature, and Community is under the National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, Indonesia.