Communication of COVID-19 Policies and Public Trust: The Indonesian Government’s Messaging and Public Response

Abstract

This study examines the communication strategies used by the Indonesian government to disseminate COVID-19 policies and explores how these messages shaped public trust and compliance during the pandemic. The Indonesian government faced the dual challenge of managing a public health crisis while maintaining political legitimacy in a diverse and decentralized society. Effective communication was crucial for ensuring public understanding of health protocols, vaccine campaigns, and mobility restrictions, yet the government’s messaging was often contested due to inconsistent information, politicization, and varying levels of public confidence. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research analyzes official government communications, press conferences, public service announcements, and social media posts, complemented by survey data and public opinion reports to assess public responses and trust levels. The findings indicate that clarity, consistency, and transparency in government messaging were key determinants of public trust, while contradictory statements and perceived lack of accountability eroded confidence and increased skepticism. The study also finds that digital platforms played a significant role in shaping public reception, as misinformation and competing narratives influenced how citizens interpreted policy directives. The novelty of this research lies in its integrated examination of policy communication and trust dynamics within Indonesia’s pandemic governance, bridging health communication, political communication, and crisis management. The contribution of the study is to provide empirical evidence on how government messaging affects democratic legitimacy and citizen compliance during crises, highlighting the importance of credible communication in sustaining public trust. The study concludes that strengthening crisis communication requires institutional coordination, consistent messaging, and proactive engagement with communities, and recommends enhancing transparency, media literacy, and participatory communication mechanisms to rebuild public trust in Indonesia’s post-pandemic governance.