Internet Users In Indonesia Are High, But Ironically 60 Percent Believe In Hoax News

MATARAM - The Indonesian Anti-slander Society (Mafindo) stated that the results of a survey of Indonesian public trust in hoax information or fake news are currently quite high.

"The number of people exposed to hoax information is almost 60 percent of the total internet users in Indonesia," said Mafindo senior fact-checker Dedy Helsyanto during a discussion on the role of the media in Mataram, Antara, Tuesday, December 28.

Ironically, the number of people who believe in fake news continues to increase every year. On the one hand, the number of internet users in Indonesia has reached 70 percent of the population of more than 200 million spread across all provinces.

"Every year there is an increase in the number of hoax beliefs that occurs with the increasing number of social media users," he said.

While only a few percent of Indonesians are able to recognize hoaxes, one of them is the role of the media and journalists in fighting hoax information.

"Most of the hoaxes found were related to socio-political issues, sara (religion), health, sad news, accidents, and job vacancies," he said.

He said the media had contributed a lot to the progress of society and the region, so the role of the media and journalists against hoaxes was highly expected because they had passed the journalist's code of ethics according to the rules.

"There are no hoaxes made by the media," he said.

Therefore, it is hoped that the role of the media and journalists in providing education to the public to fight the spread of hoax information in the current digital era.

"Let's fight hoax information together," he said.