From solidarity to rejection: Moral panic toward Rohingya refugees in Aceh (Indonesia)

Abstract

This study examines the emergence of moral panic surrounding Rohingya refugees in Aceh, Indonesia, between late 2023 and early 2024. Since 2011, Rohingya arrivals had generally been met with humanitarian acceptance and religious solidarity. However, a sharp shift occurred in late 2023, when refugees who were previously framed as vulnerable victims increasingly became symbolized as social threats and targets of public rejection. This research pursues two primary objectives: first, to map changes in media framing of the Rohingya issue over time; and, second, to analyze how moral panic developed through interactions between mainstream journalism and social media. The study combines quantitative content analysis of Indonesian online news outlets with qualitative thematic analysis of discourse on social media platforms, including X, TikTok, and Facebook. Findings show a clear transformation in dominant news frames: early coverage emphasized humanitarian victimhood and solidarity, whereas reporting in 2023–2024 became dominated by threat, illegality, and conflict narratives. The study also finds that moral panic emerged through a double-loop amplification process, where institutional media narratives were intensified into affective outrage on social media and recirculated into journalistic coverage as viral public concern. The case demonstrates that refugee moral panic can arise through a delayed trajectory after prolonged normalization, when sudden arrivals and digitally amplified hostility converge.