[2] Roy first came to national prominence in March 1999, when a tape recording of a telephone conversation between President BJ Habibie and Attorney General Andi Ghalib was leaked to the press.

After Ghalib denied it was his voice on the tape, Roy - then a relatively unknown figure at Gadjah Mada University - said he had used a digital "spectrum analyzer" to ascertain the conversation was authentic.

[4] Roy then began appearing widely on radio and television, positioning himself as an expert on evidence in numerous ensuing scandals involving politicians and celebrities.

[10] In early 2013, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Roy Suryo as Minister of Youth and Sports to replace Andi Mallarangeng, who resigned after being named a suspect in a corruption case.

[12] In September 2014, Roy was criticized by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) for taking an official trip with his wife to Europe to promote the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat, as his term as minister neared an end.

[24] On 25 September 2008, Roy's expertise was questioned during the trial of Muslim extremist Rizieq Shihab, who was ultimately convicted and jailed for having incited his supporters to attack an inter-faith rally at Jakarta's National Monument.

[28] Roy denied any wrongdoing and questioned the health of the sister's legal counsel, saying he only wanted to help the siblings find out who had shared the photos.

[29] In the 2009 trial of actress of Marcella Zalianty and Ananda Mikola, who were accused of kidnapping and abuse, Roy appeared as an expert witness for the prosecution.

Ruby Z. Alamsyah, a digital forensic analyst, appearing as an expert witness for the defense, said Roy's testimony was invalid because he has no expertise in international telematics.

[30] In 2009, Roy put himself forward as an expert witness for the prosecution in the defamation trial of Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was jailed for complaining about being misdiagnosed by a hospital in Banten province.

[31] In 2010, Roy was an expert witness for police in a case involving a leaked sex tape that featured singer Ariel and actress Luna Maya.

Roy admitted he had sent text messages to Luna, but claimed he felt tricked by her, because she had denied being in the video and he had initially believed her denial.

[36] In April 2012, a sex tape was leaked allegedly featuring Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Karolin Margret Natasa, the daughter of the governor of West Kalimantan.

Roy on 24 April 2012 said he believed the woman in the video was indeed "KMN", but he declined to become further involved in the case to avoid a conflict of interest, as he belonged to a rival party.

[39] In April 2016, Roy was reportedly fooled by a fake Twitter account set up in the name of President Joko Widodo's son Gibran.

The edit, made on 21 January 2020 and showing scant regard for capitalization, changed the location of the first UN General Assembly from "Westminster Central Hall" in London to "jln setiabudi (sunda atlantis)".

[41] It also changed the location of the UN's first temporary headquarters over 1946 to 1952 from a building owned by Sperry Gyroscope Corporation in Lake Success, New York, to "villa isola in lembang, Bandung".

[42] In July 2022, Roy Suryo was formerly a suspect after posting a controversial meme about the Borobudur statue's face that closely resembles to Joko Widodo on his social media.