When Michael Buehler saw that his name was trending on Twitter, he realised that an all-out vilification campaign against him had reached a new level.

Dr Buehler, a lecturer in comparative politics at Soas, University of London, did not foresee the hostility that he would face when he posted last month a on Indonesian politics on a little-known academic blog called New Mandala.

It raised questions about alleged covert lobbying by Indonesia ahead of a visit by its president, Joko Widodo, to the White House to meet Barack Obama in late October.

Dr Buehler revealed that $80,000 (?53,000) had been paid by a Singaporean consultant to a Las Vegas PR firm to lobby on behalf of Indonesia, according to papers filed with the US Department of Justice.

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The Swiss academic also highlighted what he saw as the ¡°tepid¡± reception received by Mr Widodo and the ¡°disappointing¡± economic returns (three non-legally binding memoranda of understanding and a defence agreement) from the first official US visit by an Indonesian president for 10 years.

¡°The seemingly ill-conceived and poorly executed visit reflects the Indonesian government¡¯s lack of coordination on a foreign policy agenda,¡± he wrote on 6 November.

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The story was quickly picked up by the Indonesian media, but was misreported as Dr Buehler claiming that Indonesia had paid $80,000 for Mr Widodo to secure a meeting with Mr Obama.

¡°I never said this,¡± explained Dr Buehler, whose research focuses on the politics of Southeast Asia.

He told?Times Higher Education:?¡°All I did in my article was to suggest that the lobbying company was hired without the knowledge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,¡± he said, adding that there was ¡°nothing illegal about employing lobbyists¡±.

However, the distorted story was shared more than 10,000 times on social media, prompting Indonesian officials to hold press conferences to denounce Dr Buehler?¨C knocking down what he called their ¡°straw man¡± story and ignoring the wider implications of his claims.

Dr Buehler found himself criticised by Indonesia¡¯s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Indonesian Embassy in Washington and the US Embassy in Indonesia.

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Attacks on him also came from various parts of the Indonesian media and academia.

¡°I have been called a liar, a spy, an agent working for a US mining company trying to destabilise Indonesian politics,¡± he said.

¡°I have also been accused of having a political agenda to discredit the current government on behalf of political opponents of the president,¡± he added.

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Articles have also suggested that Mr Widodo should and that Dr Buehler was ¡°used by the Chinese government¡±, while an that Soas should investigate Dr Buehler because his article may ¡°affect the credibility of the university¡±.

¡°The real story is the reaction by the Indonesian government to my article ¨C denounce, deny, deflect¡­just like during the New Order authoritarian military dictatorship,¡± he said.

This is significant because it ¡°comes at a time of growing intolerance in Indonesia, a creeping militarisation of the bureaucracy, growing nationalism and a comeback of censorship¡±, he added.

About 100 academic experts on Southeast Asian politics have now in support of Dr Buehler, while Lawrence S¨¢ez, head of Soas¡¯ department of politics and international studies, said the department ¡°fully supports¡± his work and ¡°unequivocally rejects the attacks and intimidation he has faced¡­as well as efforts by the government of Indonesia to tarnish his academic integrity¡±.

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com