"I have instructed, anyone involved (in the syndicate), will be arrested; those who order (the fake news), fund providers, arrest them!" Karnavian said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Police Chief General Tito Karnavian has stressed his commitment to thoroughly investigating the alleged fake news syndicate Saracen and arresting the involved individuals.
"I have instructed, anyone involved (in the syndicate), will be arrested; those who order (the fake news), fund providers, arrest them!" Karnavian stated at the Police headquarters here, Tuesday.
He acknowledged the difficulties faced in tracing members of the syndicate.
"It would not be easy to arrest them, as they played the game in cyberspace," he noted.
However, the police have continued to hunt the individuals allegedly involved in the Saracen syndicate.
The police have detained four suspected administrators of the group known by their initials as MFT, SRN, JAS, and MAH.
The Saracen group has some Facebook accounts: Saracen News, Saracen Cyber Team, and Saracennewscom, among others.
The group had allegedly offered their services to disseminate hate speeches on ethnic, religious, and inter-group issues.
According to the police, there is evidence suggesting that the group had profited by taking payments to raise particular issues online that were provocative or targeted certain religious or ethnic groups.
The police have described Saracen as "well-structured" and capable of coordinating its activities from different locales.
The group interacted through up to 800 thousand social media accounts -- some fake and some hacked -- boosting traffic to fake news sites and generating income from online advertising. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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