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Rahmat Wibowo vs. Astari Marthaningtyas: A Cease-and-Desist Over Social Media Posts

Rahmat Wibowo·

Rahmat Wibowo vs. Astari Marthaningtyas: A Cease-and-Desist Over Social Media Posts

This post describes a formal cease-and-desist letter (Somasi No. 015/SOMASI/RW/VIII/2026) I sent on 28 August 2026 to Ms. Astari Marthaningtyas, holder of the X (Twitter) account @__Astari, over posts and replies I believe attacked my reputation. This is not a police report or a court filing — it is a legal notice, one step short of that, giving the recipient an opportunity to respond and settle before any formal proceeding. I am not asserting that Ms. Marthaningtyas is guilty of any offense, and she has not had a chance to respond in this post. Everything below is my account and my reading of these posts as of the time I documented them.

What prompted the notice

I documented a post from the @__Astari account dated 24 September 2023 that quoted and screenshotted one of my posts, adding the comment that I "got put on a disciplinary hearing over his attitude and is even proud of it" — a post I recorded as having reached roughly 171,000 views. I also documented three replies from the same account, dated 10, 13, and 14 May 2026, made on threads by another account that accused me of extortion and of sending what that account called "bogus" legal notices. In those replies, @__Astari wrote "I'm a victim too, can we DM?", offered to "give facts," and explained a term used to imply my legal notices formed a "leaderboard" of people I had targeted.

In my reading, by replying "I'm a victim too" on a thread accusing me of extortion, and by amplifying and explaining that framing, the account associated me with an extortion accusation I don't believe has ever been substantiated by any police report or court finding that I'm aware of.

Why I connected the account to a name and employer

The @__Astari account's display name matches a LinkedIn profile under the name Astari Marthaningtyas, which lists a role in Brand Innovation at Unilever, based in Bangkok, and lists Universitas Padjadjaran as her alma mater. I relied on that public profile — which she appears to have made public herself — to identify who I believe controls the account and to determine where to send copies of my notice. I don't have independent confirmation beyond that public profile.

What I asked for

In the notice, sent by email on 28 August 2026 with copies to PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk., Unilever Thailand, and the Universitas Padjadjaran alumni association, I asked Ms. Marthaningtyas to, within three calendar days (by 31 August 2026, 17:00 WIB):

  • Remove the posts and replies described above;
  • Publish a public apology on the @__Astari account, pinned for at least 30 days;
  • Publish a clarification that she never received any legal notice, monetary demand, or threat from me, since I believe her "victim" statement was untrue;
  • Stop making further statements along these lines; and
  • Pay non-pecuniary compensation, which I calculated at roughly Rp533,333,334 — a figure based on twice the maximum criminal fine available under the calumny provision I cited, offered as a starting point for negotiation rather than a fixed demand, with the final amount ultimately a matter for a court to decide.

I also invited her to reach out by email to discuss or settle the matter, including by video call given that she is based in Thailand.

Where things stand

The notice set a deadline of 31 August 2026. As of this writing, I have not filed a police report or civil suit over this matter, and I want to be clear that the notice itself explains what I said I would consider doing if the deadline passed without a response — it does not mean any of those steps have been taken. I'm sharing this because it's an accurate record of a dispute I initiated through a formal legal notice, and because I believe documenting my own actions and reasoning at each stage is the fairest way to handle a disagreement like this.

I'm not a lawyer, and this post is not legal advice. Nothing here should be read as a finding by any court or authority — it's my account of a notice I sent and why I sent it. For more on how Indonesia's electronic information law actually works in practice, see my explainer on the ITE Law.

#Defamation #SocialMedia #IndonesiaLaw #CeaseAndDesist #DigitalRights

Rahmat Wibowo, Founder & CEO, InfraLoka — infraloka.co.id