Rumah Pemilu Indonesia Election Portal
The Indonesian General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has been publishing the 2024 Regional Head Election Vulnerability Index since March 6, 2023. Based on this index, DKI Jakarta province is the most vulnerable province for campaign issues on social media. After that, the provinces of North Maluku, Bangka Belitung Islands, West Java, Central Kalimantan, and Gorontalo. Hate speech is predicted to increase significantly in these six provinces.
“If you look at the portrait of campaign vulnerabilities on social media, it turns out that what happens most often at the provincial level is hate speech.” Meanwhile, at the district/city level, most of them are hoaxes,” explained Indonesian Bawaslu member Lolly Suhenty in the discussion “Portrait of Information Disorders in the 2024 Election and Its Potential in the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Elections” on Tuesday (11/6).
Meanwhile, at the Regency/City Pilkada level, the five areas most vulnerable to campaign issues on social media are: Intan Jaya Regency, Malaka Regency, East Jakarta City, Purwarejo Regency, and Jayawijaya Regency. Difficulty in internet access in Intan Jaya Regency, Malaka Regency, and Jayawijaya Regency is considered to be a challenge for the dissemination of fact-checking results and information verification by the public.
“Why is Intan Jaya, whose signal is difficult, the most vulnerable? Because the signal is difficult, information that contains untruths or is inaccurate is difficult to counter. “We both know that the person making the hoax doesn’t have to be there, but rather it is targeting the situation in Intan Jaya,” explained Lolly.
According to Lolly, cracking down on disinformation in the 2024 regional elections will experience a number of challenges. The Regional Election Law (UU) does not specify the definition of a campaign, as the Election Law does. Bawaslu’s authority in regional elections is also only for resolving administrative violations and process disputes, and the results of Bawaslu’s actions are only in the form of recommendations, not decisions.
“In the Regional Election Law, the elements (campaigns) are not detailed. Anyone can be subject to sanctions, and there is no such thing as self-image. So, just general activities to convince voters by offering a vision, mission, and candidate program. In the regional elections too, Bawaslu was given the authority only to decide on administrative violations and process disputes, but they were recommendations, so the KPU carried out the execution. “Well, this is a challenge too,” concluded Lolly. []
