Ask Millennials To Be Active In Social Media, Social And Political Expert: Don't Let Us Like The Middle East Collapse Provoked By Radicals

Illustration of rejection of radicalism. (Antara/Maulana Surya)

JAKARTA - Social and political science expert (sospol) Henri Subiakto hopes that Indonesian millennials will be active on social media (medsos) in campaigning to defend the country for the sake of the integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia so that it is not like in the Middle East being scattered by radical groups.

This was said by Henri in a webinar entitled "Digital Media: Efforts to Strengthen the Nation's Character and Defend the State" on Friday 15 April. The event was initiated by the Directorate General (Dirjen) of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

"Millennials, santri brothers, young people must know that they need to be active in defending the country on social media. Don't let our country really become like a country in the Middle East that collapsed due to provocations by radicals and propaganda of transnational ideologies," he said.

The Professor of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Airlangga Surabaya added that Indonesia, with all its diversity, is vulnerable to various conflicts in the name of religion, political views, and regional issues.

With these various vulnerabilities, he said, the integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia must be maintained, especially by millennials, through actions that always echo the concept of defending the country and practicing the values of Pancasila in the digital space.

The use of social media is considered to be effective in campaigning for the concept of defending the country because now the platform is increasingly filled with content of intolerance and radicalism.

"We, Indonesia, do have the potential for conflict, such as religious, political, and regional conflicts. We must guard this so that those who want to change Pancasila return to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," he added.

In addition, to maintain the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, Henri also appealed to all Indonesians not to be weak and not easily influenced by the views of intolerance, radicalism, and transnational religious sects.

"If Indonesia is weak, then foreign powers will dominate Indonesia. Therefore, we need to maintain this Indonesianness, nationalism, and nationality because radical and anti-NKRI groups, whenever there is an opportunity, such as labor demonstrations, student demonstrations want to take advantage of it (for divide the unity of Indonesia)," he said.