The issue of false news being spread online, especially through social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, has been a big topic of discussion around the world recently. In America, many have argued that the spread of fake news on Facebook might have been key to securing Donald Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election, while here in Indonesia numerous observers believe that false news and rumors were used to stir up the public in the run-up to the massive November 4 protest against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for his alleged blasphemy.
Now the head of the Indonesian National Police is urging the public not to blindly trust information they read on social media, claiming that there are organized forces at work spreading false information in an attempt to further provoke public anger and fears.
“We have already seen that on social media, there is a group that has cyber troops or cyber army. The group is deliberately aiming to provoke citizens into conflict,” said National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian at Jakarta Police Headquarters yesterday as quoted by Kompas.
Tito did not say what parties were behind these “cyber troops” spreading false news on social media. However, he did say that these people were always looking for opportunities to sow chaos and misinformation to destroy the country’s state of peace.
“Do not be pitted against one another and provoked. We all chose to live in a democracy like this. We are moving forward, building bridges and the economy is good,” Tito said.
Tito appealed to citizens to be more critical about issues on social media and to try to find out the truth before sharing fake news. Seems like excellent advice right now, though perhaps too little too late…
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