Ahead Of The 2024 General Election, The Ministry Of Communication And Information Cleans 1321 Hoaxes In Jagat Maya

Wakabareskrim Asep Edi Suheri asked together to be able to create a healthy, clean and productive Indonesian digital space. (photo: screenshot of Kemkominfo)

JAKARTA - The virtual world is often a hotbed, especially in Indonesia because of the high enough use of the Internet. Moreover, the 2024 General Election (Pemilu) will soon be held.

Wakabareskrim Asep Edi Suheri asked together to be able to create a healthy, clean and productive digital space for Indonesia. This is very important.

Because, based on data from the Indonesian Internet Network Operators Association (APJII), the number of Indonesian Internet users in 2022 is quite high, reaching 76.36 percent or around 210 million people, out of the total population of Indonesia of 275 million people.

Furthermore, based on Hootsuite Digital Report data in 2022, active users on the Internet are also quite high, which is 69.6 percent or 191.4 million people.

"Therefore, strengthening the security of digital space is one of the obligations, especially since the 2024 election stage is already running," Asep said during a press conference to update the MoU in order to make the digital space cleaner during the 2024 election at the Ministry of Communication and Information Office, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, January 4.

Asep added, of course, digital space is a place for candidates to promote themselves because they are able to channel information quickly and easily, allowing people to interact directly.

"However, what needs attention is how this digital space is really used responsibly," said Asep.

One of the things that needs to be noted, based on a survey by the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) in 2019, it was found that 67.2 hoaxes or fake news were related to political issues dominated by social media. "This must be a shared learning," said Asep.

Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G. Plate also said that currently his party had taken action to dispel hoaxes in cyberspace.

"Until now, Kominfo has closed 11 radical TV streams, 86 URLs and to date, 1321 hoaxes have been closed or handled," said Johnny.

In addition, Johnny asked during the 2024 General Election, social media should not be filled with information related to hoaxes or disinformation.

"The 2024 election should not be filled with propaganda, disinformation and hate speech in the digital scope. So with a shorter campaign schedule, digital space must be utilized as best as possible," concluded Johnny.