As quoted from a press release on Friday, director general of information and public communication at the Communications and Informatics Ministry Usman Kansong remarked that the public played an important role in maintaining democracy when political conditions leading up to the 2024 General Election could allow for post-truth issues of identity politics.
Kansong noted that the delivery of post-truth information usually followed a pattern, in which it is aimed at creating an opinion that disregarded correct, rational, or factual information. The shared information could lead to certain personal emotions, or what was often called identity politics.
To maintain peace in cyberspace ahead of the 2024 General Election, the ministry saw digital literacy as an important aspect, so that people can use social media wisely.
Digital literacy is also important because according to a recent survey conducted by international institutions, Indonesian netizens were identified as among the disrespectful ones.
"Education or education about the ethics of using social media is important," he remarked.
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Digital literacy enables and compels people to use social media to strengthen unity and integrity. Fake news or hoaxes circulating in the digital space can affect national democracy.
The ministry, through digital training, informed people of two simple ways to identify hoaxes as a means to avoid them from being provoked. First, information was potentially hoax if it was too good or too bad to be true.
Second, the public should check whether the information is published by the mainstream media. If it was in the mainstream media, then one should double-check the information in other media.
He noted that the ministry, along with the General Elections Commission and General Elections Supervisory Agency, had formed a task force to maintain peace in cyberspace. The task force will monitor the digital space to watch out for and eradicate negative content that might spark chaos.
The ministry also reminded of regulations that governed the cyberspace. If the rule was violated and disrupts public order, then firm action could be taken.
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Translator: Natisha A, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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