The Parties have Prepared a Number of Steps to Handle Hoaxes

Ahead of the simultaneous regional head elections (Pilkada) in all regions in September 2024, the General Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) is preparing a regional election vulnerability index to anticipate conflict in society. One of the issues identified as vulnerable is disinformation or hoaxes. Bawaslu is also preparing guidelines to prevent violations.

“We are currently making prevention guidelines, including how to anticipate hoaxes. “When we have identified vulnerabilities, including hoax vulnerabilities, there are also prevention guidelines, and then we will carry out outreach to stakeholders and the community,” said a member of Bawaslu RI, Herwyn JH Malonda, at a discussion on Overcoming Hoaxes in the 2024 Pilkada, which was broadcast by TVRI on Monday (10/6).

Apart from Bawaslu, the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) has also encouraged social media platforms to develop technology that can speed up understanding of deepfake content. The development of artificial intelligence technology will further accelerate the production of hoaxes during the political competition season.

“We invite platforms to see how they can create technology that can speed up the decoding of deepfake content. For example, with watermark technology, “We have become a talking platform,” said the Director General of Information and Public Communication at Kominfo, Usman Kansong, in the same discussion.

In an effort to strengthen the handling of hoaxes in the regional elections, the Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society (Mafindo) is expanding factual collaboration with media in various regions. Media partners will monitor hoaxes and report them to social media platforms. Currently, there are 100 media outlets that have joined the Fact Check Coalition initiated by Mafindo.

“Previously, we only had 25 media; now we have 100 media who jointly monitor and report to social media platforms, so they can respond quickly,” said Chairman of the Presidium of the Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society (Mafindo), Septiaji Eko Nugroho, in the same discussion. []