On Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, a network of accounts is targeting the West Papua independence movement with memes and messages designed to shape international and domestic narratives about the separatist movement.
The region has been beset by a series of well-documented online information operations, but some of the content posted in late 2020 claims to represent the views on West Papua of Australian officials, as well as of the United Nations and the UK government, and have reportedly been called out by the Australian government.
A former Dutch colony, West Papua became part of Indonesia in 1969 after a heavily disputed referendum. The Australian government does not dispute Indonesia’s sovereignty over the region, despite the ongoing claims of indigenous Papuans. Some Pacific island states have expressed support for Papuan independence and raised alleged human rights abuses at the United Nations General Assembly.