The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

Dutch East Indies: Colonial authorities end publication of the communist newspaper Mawa under Penal Code Article 153 bis, 1926

IndonesiaRSF rank: not recorded

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

In 1926, colonial authorities in the Dutch East Indies ended publication of Mawa, a newspaper linked to the Communist Association of the Indies in Soerakarta, through repeated use of Article 153 bis of the colonial Penal Code, which criminalized advocating the overthrow of the government. The action came in the same year that a new Governor-General took office and colonial authorities put down a communist uprising in Batavia and the Banten region.123

What happened

Mawa, a newspaper that served as the voice of the Communist Association of the Indies (Perhimpoenan Komunis di Indie, PKI) in the city of Soerakarta on Java, ceased publication in 1926, only a year after it began, after colonial prosecutors repeatedly applied Article 153 bis of the Netherlands Indies Penal Code against it. That article, together with related article 153 ter, restricted any movement and discourse that colonial authorities judged might cause public insecurity. Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff took office as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies on March 26, 1926. In November of that year, members of the PKI revolted in the streets of the colonial capital, Batavia, and in the Banten residency of western Java, an uprising that colonial authorities put down. Following the revolt, restrictions on the press and on political activity increased across the colony, continuing a pattern in which colonial authorities used the Penal Code's provisions against subversive speech to end the publication of newspapers linked to the communist movement.14523

What reason was given

Stated justification

Colonial authorities acted under Article 153 bis and ter of the Penal Code, provisions that restricted any movement and discourse judged likely to cause public insecurity.4

What changed for reporting

Mawa stopped publishing after only a year, and government restrictions on the press and on political activity increased in the colony following the failed communist uprising later that year.5

Timeline

1926

1926
Dutch East Indies: Colonial authorities end publication of the communist newspaper Mawa under Penal Code Article 153 bis, 1926

Who acted

NameRole in this incidentOffice at the time
Andries Cornelis Dirk de GraeffenforcedGovernor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Outlets and journalists

NameKindRelation
Mawaoutletaffected

Sources

  1. Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation)Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), 2011, reporting. Source record
  2. Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press)Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press), 2020, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. In 1926, due to repeated application of Article 153 bis of the Penal Code, the communist-linked newspaper Mawa ceased publication only a year after its first issue.in 1926, due to a series of application of Article 153 bis of the Penal Code, the voice of Soerakarta’s Communist Association of the Indies (Perhimpoean Komunis di India, PKI), Mawa, ceased publication, only one year after its inaugural issue.Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), 2011.Claim 932, checked 2026-09-26.
  2. In November 1926, members of the Communist Party of the Indies revolted in the streets of Batavia and in the Banten residency.In November 1926, members of the Communist Party (Partai Kommunis Indonesia, PKI) revolted in the streets of Batavia and in the Banten residency.Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press), Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press), 2020.Claim 935, checked 2026-09-26.
  3. Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff took office as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia on March 26, 1926.the new Governor-General, Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff, assumed his office in Batavia on March 26, 1926.Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), 2011.Claim 936, checked 2026-09-26.
  4. Article 153 bis and ter of the Penal Code restricted any movement and discourse that colonial authorities judged might cause public insecurity.153 bis and ter restricted any movement and discourse that might cause public insecurity.Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), Nobuto Yamamoto, Print Power and Censorship in Colonial Indonesia, 1914-1942 (Cornell University dissertation), 2011.Claim 933, checked 2026-09-26.
  5. Government restrictions on the press and on political activity increased in the colony following the failed 1926 uprising.Press censorship increased, as did political oppression.Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press), Arnout van der Meer, Performing Power: Cultural Hegemony, Identity, and Resistance in Colonial Indonesia (Cornell University Press), 2020.Claim 934, checked 2026-09-26.