ITB Tightens Social Media Ethics for Students After Erika's Song Causes Controversy

BANDUNG - The Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has tightened the supervision of student ethics and social media literacy following the circulation of the Mining Student Association (HMT-ITB) content with the Erika song which triggered public concern regarding alleged verbal sexual violence.

This step was taken as a commitment of the campus in creating a dignified environment and preventing all forms of actions that degrade human dignity in the digital and academic spaces.

"ITB views this event as an important momentum to strengthen the campus culture that upholds ethics, respect for human dignity, and the prevention of all forms of violence, including verbal sexual violence," said ITB Communication and Public Relations Director, Dr. N Nurlaela Arief, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, April 15.

Responding to the controversy, Nurlaela said HMT-ITB had publicly apologized and admitted that the content circulating did not reflect academic values.

All related videos and audio have now been attempted to be taken down from various official channels and affiliated accounts.

Nurlaela Arief emphasized that strengthening the character and the system of violence prevention is the main priority of the university at this time.

"Through strengthening ethics, character development, and a system of prevention and handling of violence that continues to be strengthened, ITB strives to present an educational ecosystem that is not only academically superior, but also socially healthy," said Nurlaela.

ITB is now expanding its ethics campaign through the Joint Preparation Directorate (Ditsama) which includes social media literacy, short message communication ethics, to campus environment etiquette. Students are encouraged to be more critical and polite in expressing their opinions on social media without attacking others.

As a concrete step to protect academic staff, ITB has also established a Prevention and Handling of Violence Task Force (PPK) that reaches all of its campuses, namely in Ganesha, Jatinangor, Cirebon, to Jakarta.

This task force is tasked with providing a channel for consultation and reporting for campus residents who experience or see acts of violence. In addition, the material for Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence (PPKS) is now integrated on a mandatory basis in the material for training new students to build awareness from an early age.