By: Haikal Fathan Akbar )*
Towards the election, radicalism must be watched out for because it has the potential to increase and can thwart this program. The public must avoid excessive fanaticism of one of the presidential candidates they idolize. The worry is that fanaticism will lead to identity politics, and can cause friction, and undermine the peace of the 2024 Election.
In a few months the 2024 elections will be held. The people are waiting enthusiastically because they will have a new president, and indeed President Jokowi’s term of office will end. In the 2024 Election there are 3 presidential candidates (Capres) and they have their respective supporters.
Even though they have idol candidates, people are urged not to do excessive fanaticism. Political analyst Selamat Ginting revealed that excessive fanaticism in supporting political parties as well as candidates for national and regional leaders in the 2024 general election has the potential to cause radicalism which endangers the integrity of the nation and state. Do not let there be bad names (for supporters of certain presidential candidates) that degrade human dignity.
Congratulations Ginting continued, don’t let people commit violence against different people or groups. Including violence through bullying (aggressive actions that are repeated) on social media with unethical sentences.
Radicalism is an understanding made by a group of people who want drastic social and political change or renewal by using violent means against groups with different views. Including political views or choices.
If a group imposes their will on drastic socio-political changes, because they feel that their chosen political party or national or regional leadership candidates must win by means of violence in elections, this means that group is committing radicalism.
Excessive fanaticism of a presidential candidate is dangerous because his supporters turn blind in love. Because of their love, they mocked other supporters with bad names. As a result, they can be subject to the ITE Law and be punished for cyber bullying on social media.
Then, excessive fanaticism is also dangerous because it can lead to identity politics and radicalism. Identity politics is political action that emphasizes certain backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures. The issue of identity politics is feared to be increasing in society.
When people are poisoned by identity politics, they consider supporters of other presidential candidates to be unequal and end up insulting them, both in real life and in cyberspace. Identity politics is dangerous because it can cause divisions in society.
Fanaticism and divisions in society are put to good use by terrorist and radical groups. They approached the presidential candidate’s supporters and provoked them to become enemies with other presidential candidates’ supporters. As a result, the campaign period for the 2024 election became hot because there was war, especially in cyberspace.
Disunity in society is expected by radical groups because they can create chaos without having to carry out attacks and bombings (which cost a lot of money). Provocations made by spreading hoaxes are made by designing content and then spreading it on social media. Propaganda was also spread, especially in WA groups.
Therefore, people are urged not to be fanatical when supporting a presidential candidate because it is dangerous and causes social chaos. When there is a war between supporters, it has the potential to cause major riots and can cancel a peaceful election. Don’t want to be poisoned by hoaxes and propaganda spread by radical and terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society (Mafindo) detected the spread of 320 fake news or hoaxes, most of which (65 percent) had political topics in 2024. The spread of these hoaxes targeted three things, namely the government/institution (23 percent), the presidential candidate camp 01 around (50 percent), and the presidential candidate camp 02 (27 percent).
Political observer Septiaji Eko Nugroho stated that, one thing that needs to be underlined from the holding of elections is the massive circulation of hoaxes, proving that people are experiencing serious distrust of one another. Many hoaxes are triggered not only because of (only) digital literacy problems, but also because of the emergence of excessive political fanaticism.
This excessive political fanaticism has resulted in polarization of society, fading harmony, strengthening inter-group hatred, and a decrease in humanity. The situation was exacerbated by the abundant infrastructure for spreading hoaxes, thus increasing the area of their spread.
The attitude of blindly supporting certain political figures or factions has resulted in some people ignoring the importance of data and facts. With this attitude, acceptance of certain information is more because it supports or benefits the group’s attitude, not because of the suitability of facts or logic. At certain moments, facts are only used to the extent that they conform to one’s wishes.
Therefore, the public is asked to remain calm and not be provoked by hoaxes and propaganda, because this fake news was deliberately created by radical and terrorist groups. They want to disrupt and cancel the 2024 elections by causing social chaos. Don’t let excessive love cause people to get emotional easily and attack supporters of other presidential candidates, and end up getting stuck in the ITE Law.
)* The author is a contributor to Vimedia Pratama Institute
