Because social media and cyber media are deemed to have broader reach and be more efficient.
Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - Social and cyber media could potentially emerge as the main campaigning platform for the 2024 general elections participants, the Riau Islands General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has said.

The campaigning period for the 2024 general elections is expected to be shorter compared to previous general elections, Riau Islands Bawaslu member Indrawan noted here on Monday.

The campaigning period is estimated to be 75 days in 2024 compared to 90 days in 2019.

Voting will be carried out on February 14, 2024, so the campaigning period will end on February 10, 2024, or before the calm period begins.

This means that the campaign phase will begin in December 2023.

The relatively short campaigning period will be utilized by campaign participants to disseminate information about themselves and their programs through social and cyber media.

"Because social media and cyber media are deemed to have broader reach and be more efficient," Indrawan explained.

However, issues could emerge if the monitoring system is not well-developed. Therefore, regulations regarding campaigning on social and cyber media, including its monitoring, need to be developed to ensure participants' compliance, he said.

The monitoring of social and cyber media needs to also involve various competent parties, including for the dissemination of campaigning rules.

This would help prevent disputes arising from news and other criminal actions as a result of campaign violations on social media.

"The boundaries need to be clear, including regulations on dissemination through advertisements and news in cyber media," he remarked.

Earlier, here on Sunday, Riau Islands Bawaslu had said that the institution has improved the capacity of its members and staff to handle the simultaneous general and regional head elections in 2024.

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Translator: Nikolas Panama, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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