The dissemination of hoaxes/fake news and cyberbullying creates low civility in Indonesia’s cyberspace. Digital literacy needs to be promoted intensively.
By
Kompas Team
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Kompas/Alif Ichwan
A number of activists of the Anti-Defamation Society of Indonesian (Mafindo) carry pamphlets to remind the public about fake news or hoaxes along a pedestrian area during a car-free day in Jakarta, Sunday (12/2/2018). Coming into the regional elections cooling-off period, it is hoped that the people are not provoked by fake news or hoaxes.
The dissemination of hoaxes/fake news and cyberbullying creates low civility in Indonesia’s cyberspace. Digital literacy needs to be promoted intensively.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS—The low level of civility among Indonesians in cyberspace is recorded in Microsoft\'s annual research on internet user interaction titled the Digital Civility Index or DCI. The research was published in February 2021.
This fifth edition of the research was conducted in 32 countries with 16,000 respondents in April and May 2020. A total of 503 respondents were from Indonesia.
One of the findings in Indonesia is a decline in civility in social interaction on cyberspace among adult citizens aged 18-74 years. In 2020, the DCI score for Indonesian adult citizens deteriorated 16 points to 83, while teenage respondents aged 13-17 years are stable with a score of 68. The lower the DCI score, the better the level of online civility.
In Asia Pacific, Indonesia lags behind Singapore (59), Taiwan (61) and Australia (62).
Overall, Indonesia\'s DCI score is 76. This puts Indonesia in 29th place out of 32 countries surveyed. Indonesia only scored better than Mexico, Russia and South Africa. In Asia Pacific, Indonesia lags behind Singapore (59), Taiwan (61) and Australia (62).
Factors that worsened Indonesia’s DCI score in 2020 was fake news or hoaxes and fraud on the internet (47 percent), hate speech (27 percent), and discrimination (13 percent).
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
Fake news or hoaxes are spread all over the internet nowadays. People are urged to sort real news from the fake by verifying them through trusted sources.
Meanwhile, the number of internet users in Indonesia in early 2021, according to a report by content management service HootSuite and social media marketing agency We Are Social, reached 202.6 million out of a total of 274.9 million people.
Internet ethics
Social media analyst Ismail Fahmi, when contacted on Thursday (25/2/2021), explained that the spread of fake news and cyberbullying on the internet always appears whenever an event attracts the attention of many people. This often occurs among internet users or adult netizens who dominate internet usage.
Therefore, according to Ismail, internet ethics needs to be taught from an early age, even from preschool age.
"The way to improve civility is to start with early education. Although the research shows that youths’ internet politeness is still good, in the future this needs to be a focus of attention. We must have digital citizenship or education that leads to the formation of a digital society,” he said.
Hafidz Khoiri (30) admitted to experiencing cyberbullying while actively making comments on social media. Once he complained about the floods. “My comments regarding the flood were attacked by unknown accounts," he said.
However, the attacks made him afraid to express his opinion in cyberspace.
Hafidz admitted that he posted complaints on social media purely to convey aspirations. However, the attacks made him afraid to express his opinion in cyberspace.
In 2020, the Ministry of Communication and Information identified 1,387 types of hoaxes since the Covid-19 pandemic was first discovered in Indonesia in March 2020. Many hoaxes have also emerged amid the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.
KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA
Young people join the Bandung Anti Hoaks (Bandung Against Hoaxes) declaration organized by the Indonesian Anti-Libel Society (Mafindo) during Car Free Day on Jl. Ir Djuanda, Bandung, West Java, on March 31, 2019 (31/3/2019).
As of 23 February 2021, the Ministry of Communication and Information has identified 111 hoaxes related to the Covid-19 vaccine. Apart from removing hoax content from social media, the ministry’s handling of news.
Political polarization
Expert staff to the Minister of Communications and Information for Communications and Mass Media, Henry Subiakto, is of the opinion that the contribution of adult netizens in the spread of hoaxes and hate speech can arise due to low digital literacy.
The situation was exacerbated by political polarization. "The year 2014, 2017 and 2019 have contributed to the formation of political polarization, especially on social media. This is a bad example for the younger generation who, according to the survey, is actually more polite on the internet," said Henry.
This is increasingly important considering that digital traces are easy to find.
The government and politicians are thought to have played a role in creating role models in cyberspace by presenting more polite interactions and communication. The wise attitude in interacting on the internet also needs to be understood and practiced by internet users. This is increasingly important considering that digital traces are easy to find.
"All of us, the public and the government, need to increase digital literacy by utilizing the internet in a sociable, healthy and productive manner," he said.
Kompas
An infographic based on the article, “Why do people spread false information online?” by Tom Buchanan and American Psychological Association (September 2020), shows the distribution pattern of hoaxes.
According to him, the government continues to strive and improve in fighting hoaxes and cyberbullying through cooperation with law enforcers. Legal instruments also need to be improved to help improve behavior in cyberspace.
Henry also highlighted the role of conventional media. The media are advised not to use war journalism, which only exacerbates conflict.
"The media must be able to map out the conflict, why there is conflict, and see the context from various sides so that the public can understand it better," he added.
He said the role of education was very important to develop a digitally literate society with polite behavior in cyberspace. (ERK)
(This article was translated byKurniawan H. Siswoko)
