From Controversy to Legitimacy: Negotiations on the Free Nutritious Meals Programme on Social Media During the Prabowo Subianto Administration

Abstract

This study aims to analyse how policy legitimacy is negotiated through interactions between the state and the public on social media. Using an interpretative qualitative approach and digital discourse analysis, this study examines the dynamics of policy communication in the case of the Free Nutritious Meals Programme (MBG) during Prabowo Subianto’s administration. The findings indicate that policy legitimacy is not formed linearly through government communication, but rather through a process of discursive negotiation involving claims of state authority, public challenges, and adaptive government responses. Social media functions as an arena of contestation where the meaning of policy is exchanged, negotiated, and continuously reproduced. These findings also indicate that public acceptance is conditional, depending on the government’s responsiveness to public criticism and demands. Thus, policy legitimacy in the digital context is relational and iterative. This study contributes to the development of legitimacy theory by positioning it as the result of communicative interaction, and expands understanding of the role of social media in contemporary governance processes.