For most Indonesians, the internet is a new world, where prevailing rules and norms have not yet been adopted.Many taboos are broken online, and behavior deemed inappropriate in real life is not uncommon in cyberspace.
By
MUCHAMAD ZAID WAHYUDI
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DIDIE SW
Didie SW
The publication of the Digital Civility Index (DCI) survey by Microsoft in February 2021 angered Indonesian netizens. This is because the survey places Indonesian netizens’ level of civility in the lowest position among Asian countries, or in 29th rank of 32 countries surveyed worldwide.
Indonesia’s DCI score worsened by eight points in 2020 from the previous year. The higher the DCI score, the lower the level of civility. The decline in the level of civility was contributed by adult netizens aged 18-74 years, while the score of adolescents (13-17 years old) did not change.
The survey in Indonesia was conducted on 503 respondents in April-May 2020, who were part of the 16,051 respondents worldwide. Questions asked in the survey were, among others, whether the respondent had been contacted by someone who was unwanted, was exposed to fake news (hoax), deceit (scam), cheating (fraud) or hate speech and discrimination.
There were also questions about whether or not respondents had received threats or been subject to trolling, bullying, misogyny, sexual harassment, spreading personal data (doxing) or reputational damage.
Kompas
Facebook and Instagram users in Indonesia. Male (Laki-laki), Female (Perempuan), Total Users (million).
The DCI was created in 2016 to promote safe, healthy and respectful use of the internet. "Microsoft\'s annual study of digital civility is critical to raising awareness and encouraging positive online interactions," said Microsoft Asia-Pacific Regional digital security chief Liz Thomas, as quoted on the Microsoft website, on 11 February 2021.
The announcement of the survey results was reported by a number of Indonesian mass media, which mostly focused on Indonesian netizens’ level of digital civility being the lowest in Southeast Asia. It was the phrase “most uncivilized” that angered Indonesian netizens and later flooded Microsoft\'s social media accounts with protest.
"The [survey] result seems to reinforce the stereotype of the Indonesian people as an uncivilized developing country," Haidar Buldan Thontowi, a lecturer of social psychology at Gadjah Mada University’s School of Psychology, said on Friday (26/3/2021). Therefore, Haidar considered it more appropriate to translate DCI as a Digital Courtesy Index.
Digital culture
Indonesian netizens still regard cyberspace as something different from the real world.
The coordinator of the Morality Psychology Working Group at the Indonesian Social Psychology Association-Indonesian Psychological Association (IPS-Himpsi), Subhan El Hafiz, said Indonesian netizens had a different character and culture from netizens of other countries. "Indonesian netizens still regard cyberspace as something different from the real world," he said.
In fact, the virtual world is actually just a new world that is also real. As a result, even though fellow netizens berate each other on social media such as during the previous presidential election, when they meet in-person, they tend to be silent toward each other. Those who read these kind of social media posts will feel that conditions are not well in Indonesia, even though, in real life, everything works as usual.
However, the separation of the real world and the virtual world also has positive aspects, because people do not fully rely on digital devices or do not surrender their entire lives of the real world to cyberspace. However, in the future, this condition will be a challenge, especially for generations who have been familiar with digital technology since birth.
In addition, some people have no problem sharing their e-mail addresses and even telephone numbers with other people, as long as they know each other. In many developed countries, this can be considered a violation of privacy, so giving an e-mail address, let alone a telephone number, can only be done after obtaining permission from the owner. "The privacy standards in Indonesia are loose," added Subhan.
Social media in foreign countries is also considered to reduce one\'s privacy and to increase individualism and stress, but social media in Indonesia is still a means of gluing young people together or finding new friends with similar interests, which can increase their happiness and wellbeing (Kompas, 28 September 2019). However, their lack of understanding of the risks of any action on the internet makes them easy targets for irresponsible people.
