The Rise Of COVID-19 Hoaxes Spreading On Social Media

Menkominfo Johnny G Plate (doc. Kominfo)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Informatics (Menkominfo) Johnny G Plate said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his party was monitoring social media to filter out the spread of hoaxes and disinformation. As a result, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics said that there were 1,125 hoaxes and most of them occurred on the Facebook social media platform.

"Of the 1,125 hoax spreads, we have conveyed all of them. There are 1,125 hoaxes to Facebook 785, Instagram 10, Twitter 324, and six YouTube, ”Johnny said in a press conference broadcast on BNPB's YouTube account, Wednesday, April 8.

After discovering the spread of the hoax, Johnny then claimed that his party immediately contacted the social media platform to convey his findings and asked the platform to remove the hoaxes or fake news they had managed to find.

However, out of a total of 1,125 hoaxes and disinformations discovered by his party, only 359 of them were followed up by four social media. He then detailed, Facebook has deleted 303 existing hoaxes, Twitter deleted 53 hoax stories on its platform, then Instagram has deleted three posts.

“Our YouTube is working on it. There are still 766 that are or are on the digital platform. We have been communicating regularly, including with the offices of this global platform company, to ask for an immediate takedown of hoaxes and disinformation on their platforms, "he said.

In addition to discovering hoaxes and disinformation news, in monitoring social media, Johnny also said his team found 474 deviant issues related to COVID-19 that were spreading on social media.

So, from these findings, he hopes that people can use existing internet services in a healthy and useful way during this pandemic in Indonesia.

"We hope that people use digital space in a healthy, smart and useful way."