Learning From Siti Elina, BNPT Wanti-wanti The Radical Group Movement Through Social Media

JAKARTA - Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Boy Rafli Amar reminded the public to be vigilant with content containing transnational ideologies circulating on social media.

"All forms of understanding or transnational ideology can enter social media. Social media now belongs to everyone. Stay, we need to be vigilant. Be careful, don't let information harm our people and nation be consumed," Boy told reporters at the Sarinah Building, Jakarta, Wednesday, October 26.

According to him, public resilience related to receiving information and the ability to sort out information are the most important things in preventing the presentation of transnational ideologies that utilize social media.

"The most important thing is the resilience of the community in receiving information, it can sort out useful information or information that endangers all of our lives," he said as quoted by Antara.

Boy conveyed that education to the public to always sort out information on social media is no less important to do in order to prevent the presentation and spread of transnational ideologies.

The things conveyed were related to the figure of Siti Elina (SE), a woman who pointed a gun at Paspamres personnel and tried to break into the State Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (25/10) morning.

According to BNPT's search, SE had interacted with intolerant groups on social media.

"So from social media, from tracing, there are indeed intolerant groups that they interact with," said Boy.

Even so, Boy said BNPT would conduct further investigations into the truth of SE's connection with intolerant groups.

"There is no connection with physical interaction matters, whether activists from organizations that have been banned and so on. It needs a direct conventional investigation so that it can be concluded that the person concerned is part of the organization's activists," Boy explained.

Currently, investigators from the Sub-Directorate of State Security (Sub-Directorate of Kamneg) of the Ditreskrimum Polda Metro Jaya have named SE as a suspect.

"His status has been determined as a suspect," said Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Pol Endra Zulpan in Jakarta.

He explained that the article applied in determining the suspect against Siti Elina or SE is the Emergency Law Number 12 of 1951 concerning Ownership of Illegal Firearms Juncto Article 335 of the Criminal Code concerning acts of coercion.

The police have not yet implemented an article related to the alleged criminal act of terrorism against the person concerned because police investigators are still compiling the construction of the case.