Rahmat Wibowo vs. Aria Ghora Prabono: A Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Online Mockery
This post describes a cease-and-desist letter (Somasi No. 009/SOMASI/RW/VIII/2026) that I sent to Mr. Aria Ghora Prabono, holder of the X (Twitter) account @ariaghora, on 28 August 2026. This is a demand letter I drafted and sent myself, without legal counsel — it is not a police report, not a criminal complaint, and not a court filing. No investigation or court proceeding has found Mr. Prabono guilty of anything, and he has not had a chance to respond in this post. Everything below is my account of what I believe happened and what I demanded, based on posts I documented myself. Where I'm inferring something rather than stating a fact I witnessed directly, I've tried to say so.
This is one of several related cease-and-desist letters I sent to individual ITB alumni over the same underlying pattern of posts; see also Kadek Surya Mahardika, Marcello and Kelli, Naufaldi Rafif Satriya, and my broader summary of the coordinated ITB alumni group cease-and-desist.
Background
According to my understanding, on 6 November 2023 the X account @ariaghora — which I believe belongs to Mr. Aria Ghora Prabono, based on identifying information he has posted publicly, including a LinkedIn profile under that name listing him as a Principal Engineer at EAGLYS Co., Ltd. in Tokyo and an alumnus of Universitas Ma Chung — posted a thread that referred to me. I documented these posts on 28 August 2026, nearly three years after they were made, because I only became aware of them at that time.
The thread, as I read it, included a line calling me "that kid," a statement that I "need to get some pro help" (which I read as insinuating I have a mental health condition), a sarcastic remark mocking a post of mine, and a quote of a separate post by another account that had itself referenced one of my posts. I believe the posts were made in one continuous session, based on their timestamps.
I want to be clear that I don't have a court judgment, medical record, or any independent finding confirming or denying whatever was implied about me. I'm describing what I read in the posts and how I interpreted them, not asserting that Mr. Prabono's characterization of me was accurate or that my reading of his intent is the only possible one.
What I sent
On 28 August 2026, I sent a formal cease-and-desist letter (somasi) directly to Mr. Prabono by email, in three language versions (Indonesian, English, and Japanese), since he appears to reside and work in Japan. I also sent copies to EAGLYS Co., Ltd. — the company I understand employs him, based on his own public profile — and to the alumni association of Universitas Ma Chung, as the university he is recorded as having graduated from.
In the letter, I laid out my view of the applicable law, referencing Indonesia's Criminal Code provisions on defamation and insult (Article 433, aggravated by Article 441 for electronic means), the amended Electronic Information and Transactions Law (Article 27A jo. Article 45(4)), and, because of his apparent residence in Japan, provisions of Japan's Penal Code on defamation and insult (Articles 230–232) and its Civil Code on tort liability (Articles 709, 710, 715, 723). I want to note that in the letter itself I stated my own view that the elements of a more serious offense — calumny (fitnah) under Article 434 — were not, in my assessment, fully met by the facts, since that offense requires a specific factual claim known to be false, whereas I characterized his posts as mockery and value judgments rather than a testable factual claim. I did not rely on that heavier charge as a basis for my demands.
What I demanded
My letter asked Mr. Prabono, by a deadline of 31 August 2026, to: remove the posts and quote in question; publish a public apology pinned to his account for at least 30 days; publish a clarification that he had no basis for the "needs professional help" statement; stop any further posts of that kind; pay non-pecuniary compensation I calculated at IDR 533,333,334; and confirm all of this in writing by email. I also offered to discuss an amicable settlement, including by video call, within the same deadline.
I stated in the letter that if the deadline passed without a response I considered adequate, I would consider pursuing a criminal complaint in Indonesia, a criminal complaint and/or civil suit in Japan, and/or a civil tort suit in Indonesia potentially naming EAGLYS Co., Ltd. as a co-defendant on an employer-liability theory. I want to be clear that, as of this writing, I have not filed any of those — this post concerns only the cease-and-desist letter itself, not a filed police report or lawsuit.
What happens next
I'm documenting this because the somasi is a real step I took and I believe the underlying sequence of events — posts I read as demeaning, sent to me nearly three years after they were made — is relevant to anyone evaluating this dispute. A cease-and-desist letter is a demand, not a finding by any court or authority, and I recognize Mr. Prabono may disagree with my characterization of his posts or my legal analysis. If he responds, or if I take further formal legal steps, I intend to update this record accordingly.
#IndonesiaLaw #LegalDispute #Defamation #ITELaw #CrossBorderLaw #CeaseAndDesist
Rahmat Wibowo, Founder & CEO, InfraLoka — infraloka.co.id