Indonesians Farm US Political Outrage for Facebook Cash

A woman in West Java, Indonesia, says she spends her days posting political memes into Facebook groups devoted to Australian and American right-wing figures, chasing payments from Meta's creator program — and that she knows almost nothing about the politics she is amplifying.

The woman, identified by the Guardian under the pseudonym Adira, is among the most prolific accounts in one of the largest Facebook groups supporting Pauline Hanson, the Australian senator and One Nation leader. In a group called Team Pauline Hanson, which has nearly 26,000 members and was founded in April, she shares images of Hanson and asks members for their views on Hanson's comments about Islam. In a group for fans of Charlie Kirk, she posted an AI-generated image of a child in a hijab holding a sign asking whether it is acceptable to serve bacon in schools when Muslim students are present.

She also posts in groups titled "I love the USA!", "JD VANCE 2028" and "Pete Hegseth Fans," as well as groups dedicated to AI-generated images of attractive pilots.

Adira says she is not paid by an agency and receives no instructions on which campaigns to push. "We don't follow politics overseas, we don't want to be involved," she said. "We just, you know, try to earn more dollars. There is no intention to the right or to the left."

She described an ecosystem of Facebook and WhatsApp groups where Indonesian creators trade advice about which groups pay best. Some have "leaders" who supply videos and images, though she did not say who they are or whom they work for. Platform recommendations also steer her: "If I post something, suggested groups will show up."

The Guardian reported in June that several of the largest One Nation supporter groups on Facebook appeared to be run by overseas creators, many in Indonesia.

Researchers place the activity within Indonesia's "buzzer" economy. Associate Prof. Ross Tapsell of the Australian National University said the term evokes "lots of small insects" making "a really big ambient noise." Writing in Kompas, Angtyasti Jiwasiddi said the work "requires zero skills and zero capital."

Associate Prof. Timothy Graham of Queensland University of Technology blamed Meta's incentive structure. Meta says it paid nearly $3 billion to creators in 2025. The company did not respond to questions but said seven of 14 Hanson groups previously identified had been suspended for violating its policies.