National Press Day 2021: Editorial Forum Says There Are 800 Thousand Hoax Spreading Sites In Indonesia

Illustration. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Editor-in-Chief Forum (Pemred) Kemal E. Gani revealed that there are around 800 thousand sites that spread false or false information in Indonesia.

“This is extraordinary. Not only general information such as the pandemic being hoaxed, but even President Jokowi and President Donald Trump have not escaped this, "he said in a webinar, Monday, February 8.

Kemal added that the existing national media remains committed to providing credible and trusted information and content.

"So we will continue to apply the principles of facts, accurate and balanced information, the principles of verification, and accuracy to the public," he said.

The boss of the SWA group then gave a signal that the state needed to be present to support the provision of reliable information to the public. For example, Kemal explained how the New Zealand government allocated a budget of 500 million US dollars or the equivalent of Rp600 billion to its national media to strengthen the spread of true news.

"This was confirmed by Ambassador Tantowi Yahya, who said that the communication between the government and its people was very smooth. Information is not distorted, apart from the fact that the people do not depend on unverified social media, 70 percent of the people there consume information from credible media, "he said.

For this reason, Kemal, representing the media in the country, is ready to assist the government in drafting certain rules and regulations to suppress the spread of fake news in the country.

"This is a challenge for us to be able to make good and fair rules to achieve this," he concluded.