<![CDATA[Background: Indonesia and the debate over restrictions on criticism of the government—has sparked discussions on public accountability, service to the nation and freedom of expression. Purpose:  We sought to analyse audience reactions to the LPDP controversy by examining sentiment trends, toxicity levels and dominant topics of discussion in the comments section of a YouTube video uploaded by the Tempo.co channel. Methods: Data was collected via the YouTube Data API and Communalytic.org on 23 March 2026 at 09:35 WITA, yielding an initial dataset of 649 entries comprising 449 main comments and 200 replies. Results: The findings indicate that audience comments reflect a range of views on issues relating to the LPDP, including the obligations of scholarship recipients, the right to criticise the government, the use of public funds, and policy accountability. Sentiment analysis reveals a tendency towards neutral expressions, with limited positive and negative responses. Conclusion: Rather than leading to extreme polarisation, the audience actually engaged in a process of negotiating meaning regarding the relationship between state investmen. Implications: This study contributes to research in digital communication and computational social science by integrating sentiment analysis, toxicity measurement and discourse mapping to understand public responses to education policy.]]>
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