Government communication contributed to the success of public policy implementation. Government social media is an instrument that can be utilized to measure public’s sentiment and support towards certain policies. This paper aims to present how the government’s policies on disaster are represented on the social media owned by the Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) or Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management. This study analyzed both information and public comment posted in those social media between March and May 2020 to explore the state and citizen relations during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia. Using NVivo as a tool for text analysis methods, this study examines the theme pattern in government communication and public sentiment towards them. The study identifies content categories government’s communication, i.e. information, persuasion, and coercion. Concerning the public sentiment, this study finds high responses to behavioral contents, with negative (resistant) sentiments towards them. This study concludes that the government needs to treat the public as a collaborative partner, therefore the public policies on disaster need to be narrated comprehensively rather than partially intended to control public behavior.

Although the internet penetration has reached 64.8% of the population (APJII, 2019), yet the digital divide is still a major issue in Indonesia; especially among the poor. This paper aimed to study and to explain the risks of digital governance implementation in the poverty reduction policies; with the study on how the poor obtains and shares public information in the digital governance era as the focal point.   The study was conducted in a city in Indonesia that has been awarded with the Smart City Award. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Social Network Analysis. The study found that some of the poor groups are adapting to the digital governance with the help of the social network in their community; and some of them are alienated digitally. They have been at risk of become marginalized both socially and economically. This paper suggested further studies focusing on the information demand among the poor and the use of new communication technology in the poverty reduction policy making that is inclusive.

Literature suggests that the penetration of digital technology may create a digital divide, particularly for groups that lack resources and the capacity to access technology. This study is keen to examine the poverty and digital divide, particularly in urban poor areas. There are two research objectives. Firstly, to examine the digital diffusion and digital literacy within poor urban neighborhoods in the City of Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Secondly, to understand the variation of digital diffusion and digital literacy across areas (with different levels of poverty), age groups, genders and occupations. The data is collected from surveys focused on measuring the access to information, digital diffusion and the use of technology among the poor. This study found that there is a digital divide problem among people in urban areas, especially among people with low incomes. Moreover, the diffusion is dominated by certain groups such as younger people and females. Furthermore, digital literacy among the poor is low. The policy implication is to improve access for digital diffusion and provide assistance to improve digital literacy skills.

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The performance of E-governance represents the government’s usage of information technology for democratic community and nation building. This paper reports on a content analysis on the application of information technology to “SMS Pandan” and “ULAS” service by Surakarta City government to examine the extent of e-Governance in the Surakarta region.  The analysis is supplement with in-depth interviews with government officials and the community. The analysis used community based monitoring (CBM) framework to explain the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) use on the social accountability of government service and organization. The results show that procedural formality and patriarchical bureaucratic cultures triggered the emergence of ICT paradox and led to pathologies such depersonalization, buck passing, and atrophy of personal responsibility. This in turn has led to the emergence of a pseudo e-governance.