Entering The Political Year, The Ministry Of Communication And Information Invites Netizens To Stay Social Media Wise

Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information Usman Kansong. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information invites netizens to remain wise, polite, and ethical in social media when entering the political year in order to minimize the emergence of hate speech, hoaxes, or political disinformation.

The Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information Usman Kansong appealed to social media users to be ethical in word selection, diction, and others.

"In this case, we know that Indonesian netizens sometimes include being less polite in social media. In a political context, of course, we educate them that there is political ethics that must be observed in the use of social media," said Usman, quoted from Antara, Monday, January 23.

In addition to ethics, the Ministry of Communication and Information also invites netizens to prioritize cultural values, Pancasila ideology, the framework of the Republic of Indonesia and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, local wisdom, and religious values in interacting in cyberspace.

According to Usman, so far the Ministry of Communication and Information is committed to protecting the public's digital space, especially in relation to the 2024 election political year. The mechanism prepared is to protect the digital space from the upstream, middle, and downstream sides.

"From upstream, we carry out digital literacy that is preventive and educational through four pillars, namely digital skills, digital ethics, digital culture, and digital security. This is where we try to educate the public in social media, one of which is by paying attention to digital ethics and digital culture," said Usman.

Downstream, said Usman, Kemenkominfo has a corrective mechanism to monitor negative or prohibited content such as hate speech, hoaxes, pornography, or political disinformation.

This side mechanism, he continued, can be used by the public if they find allegations of pornography, disinformation, hoaxes, or hate speech through the complaint page.id.

"If we find a violation, we will ask the platform to take down related content. Then by utilizing the mainstream media, our channels and other ministries or institutions, we will convey to the public that the information was hoax or disinformation occurred," he said.

Meanwhile, in the downstream area, in the context of elections, the Ministry of Communication and Information coordinates with the Police, KPU, and Bawaslu to follow up on subjects who have been proven to have committed violations.