Alleged Government Gaslighting Discourse in Jokowi’s Speech about the Protests against the Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja

Abstract

On October 9, 2020, President Jokowi made an official statement regarding Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja. Through his speech, he clarified several elements in the law and argued that the protest against Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja was motivated by disinformation and hoaxes on social media. This study attempts to reveal the truth of the gaslighting element in the speech from the point of view of critical discourse analysis. The method used is qualitative, while the analytical model referred to Fairclough's conception of critical discourse analysis. Based on the results of the study, the speech represents the indication of gaslighting. This result indicates that the gaslighting is characterized by the government's efforts to convince the public of the importance of the Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja continuously through hedges and clarification of points that are not entirely following what the protestors are arguing.