Rahmat Wibowo vs. Kadek Surya Mahardika: A Cyber-Attack and Defamation Dispute
This post describes a formal cease-and-desist letter (Somasi No. 019/SOMASI/RW/VIII/2026) that I sent to Kadek Surya Mahardika, a fellow ITB alumnus who posts on X (Twitter) as @kadeksuryam, on 29 August 2026. This is my account as the person who sent that letter. Kadek Surya Mahardika has not had a chance to respond in this post, and nothing here is a finding of fact, a court ruling, or a conviction. Where I did not witness something directly, I've said so. I'm not a lawyer, and sending a somasi is a private legal notice, not a criminal charge.
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 Aria Ghora Prabono, Marcello Faria and Maria “Khelli” (and his letter of demand No. 017), Naufaldi Rafif Satriya, and my broader summary of the coordinated ITB alumni group cease-and-desist.
Background
Kadek Surya Mahardika and I are both alumni of Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB). According to the professional-network profile I referenced in my letter, he works as a software engineer at IT-Bauschmiede GmbH and is based in Erkelenz, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He posts on X under the handle @kadeksuryam.
What I say happened in 2023
According to screenshots I have and cite in my letter, on 10 October 2023 the @kadeksuryam account posted a tweet with a Morse-code image and what I understand to be a screenshot taken from my private Instagram story, alongside a caption I read as demeaning ("this is Morse code, which translates to 'my life is far more together than yours'"). That tweet was, according to my reading of the thread, re-quoted on 6 November 2023 alongside a message from another account reading "we got into his story" — which I interpreted as suggesting joint access to my private content, though I don't independently know who else was involved or what "we" refers to.
Separately, on 9 November 2023, I say the same account quoted an "assessment card" that contained a sexual accusation about me, adding a caption referencing the slang term "wibu" (a mocking label for anime fans) in a way I read as demeaning. I don't know who created the original "assessment card" or whether Kadek Surya Mahardika had any role beyond quoting and commenting on it.
What I say happened in 2026
According to a screenshot of the account's "Reposts" page that I reviewed on 29 August 2026, @kadeksuryam re-posted, on or around 10 May 2026, a post from an account called "Kawal Rahmat Wibowo" alleging that I take photos of women without permission and engage in "framing." I have no independent knowledge of who operates the "Kawal Rahmat Wibowo" account or the basis for its claims — my letter addresses only the act of re-posting it.
Why I believe this was more than an isolated tweet
In my letter I noted that the 2023 posts and the 2026 repost were separated by more than two years, which I described as a pattern rather than a one-off. I also noted the "we got into his story" phrasing as, in my view, suggesting coordination with others at the time — though I want to be clear this is my interpretation of a short phrase in a screenshot, not something I can prove involved any specific additional person.
Effect on me
I described in my letter that the broader pattern of online harassment I experienced around this period — of which these posts were, in my account, one part — coincided with a mental health crisis, including a health condition diagnosis, a period of substantial social withdrawal, and setbacks to my professional networking and job search. I'm not attributing all of that to Kadek Surya Mahardika individually; my letter frames his conduct as part of a wider set of events I was subjected to during that time.
What I asked for
In the somasi, sent 29 August 2026 with a deadline of 1 September 2026, I asked Kadek Surya Mahardika to: remove the posts described above and undo any reposts; stop any further posting about me; issue a public apology on his account for at least 30 days; and pay compensation. I also stated that if the deadline passed without a resolution, I intended to consider a criminal complaint in Indonesia, a civil claim, and/or contacting German authorities and the platform directly, given his residence in Germany. I sent copies of the letter to his professional network profile information, IT-Bauschmiede GmbH, and the ITB alumni association, as noted in the letter itself.
As of publishing this post, I have not received what I would consider a substantive response, and I have not received any communication from Kadek Surya Mahardika, his employer, or a lawyer representing him. I have not filed a criminal complaint or civil suit related to this matter as of this writing, and if that changes I will document it separately, the way I have with other disputes.
I'm documenting this because it's a direct, factual account — from my side only — of a legal notice I sent over conduct I believe affected me, and because I believe the underlying sequence of events is relevant to anyone evaluating it.
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