Imperialisme platform sesungguhnya menjadi isu ekonomi politik di era globalisasi. Melalui teknologi platform digital Line Webtoon Indonesia dan platform webtoon global lainnya tidak hanya memiliki akses ke pasar konsumen saja namun juga pasar tenaga kerjanya. Penelitian ini menggabungkan hasil wawancara, pengalaman participant observer, dan sumber sekunder untuk membangun data dasar yang menggambarkan realita lapangan daripada sistem produksi komik Indonesia terkini. Teori ekonomi politik kemudian digunakan untuk menganalisis realita historical situatedness industri komik Indonesia yang diperkuat dengan analisis base-superstructure atas webtoon itu sendiri sebagai format maupun platform. Analisis menunjukkan bagaimana kelimpahan komikus Indonesia dimanfaatkan platform webtoon untuk memenuhi tuntutan arus konten deras yang diharuskan berdasarkan metode bisnisnya. Hubungan antara platform asing dan komikus Indonesia tersebut menciptakan relasi eksploitasi antarbangsa yang tercipta bukan karena desain melainkan karena kelalaian dari sisi bangsa Indonesia.

---

Platform imperialism is actually a political economy issue in the era of globalization. Through digital platform technology Line Webtoon Indonesia and other global webtoon platforms have access not only to the consumer market but also to the labor market. This research combines interviews, participant observer experiences, and secondary sources to build a baseline that describes the ground realities of the current Indonesian comic production system. Political economy theory is then used to analyze the historical situatedness of the Indonesian comic industry, which is reinforced by a base-superstructure analysis of the webtoon itself as a format and platform. The analysis shows how the abundance of Indonesian comic artists is utilized by webtoon platforms to meet the demands of heavy content flow required by their business methods. The relationship between foreign platforms and Indonesian comic artists creates a relation of exploitation between nations that is created not by design but by negligence on the part of the Indonesian nation.