By: Wiwin Septiana *
Ahead of the political contest, rumors circulated that the People’s Torch Tabloid will again fill the festivity towards the celebration of 2019 Indonesia’s democratic party. The Torch People’s hoax spreader print media caused polemic during the 2014 Presidential Election, due to hoaxes or hoaxes used to attack Jokowi’s partner JK. In the first edition, which was published in May 2014, the People’s Torch published a paper entitled “Presidential Candidates” by presenting a caricature of Jokowi who was kissing the hands of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Shortly thereafter, the second edition was published again by publishing the title “1001 Jokowi Mask”, the two editions contained false news about Joko Widodo’s family.
At that time the People’s Torch framed Jokowi as a “puppet” controlled by PDIP and served the interests of Megawati. Some of the writings on the tabloid also alleged that Jokowi was a deviant Muslim, Chinese descendant and communist sympathizer. The People’s Torch was printed at least 100,000 copies and distributed to Islamic boarding schools and mosques on the island of Java. The accusation also made an uproar on a national scale. This is caused by various media who also discuss the issue with their respective perspectives.
Of course the editor in chief of the People’s Torch, Setyardi, needs to rethink before publishing the People’s Torch again. Especially if the format of the issue that he wants to exhale is similar to what he did in 2014. Because the print media is considered to have passed the legal limit, Jokowi’s – JK monitoring team finally reported this to the police. In the final verdict, 2 high-ranking officials from the People’s Torch were found guilty of imprisonment for 1 year in prison, for violations of article 310 paragraph 2 concerning defamation.
Towards the 2019 Presidential Election, of course, many parties campaign in various ways. Anticipation and prevention so that the black campaign mode as happened in the People’s Torch in 2014 is not repeated need to be grown from each individual and the authorities. Tyson and Purnomo once conducted surveys in Bandung, Jakarta and Surakarta in June – July 2015 to measure the effects of the publication of the People’s Torch. The total number of respondents was 324 people. In the survey it was proven that 58% of them had heard about the People’s Torch report.
Of the group that said this, 34% of them remembered that the report stated that Jokowi was not a good Muslim. 21% of the group also recalled that the People’s Torch called Jokowi a Chinese descent or close to the Chinese tycoon. 9% of the group recalled that the issue of Jokowi from communist descent helped to spread the People’s Torch.
The survey shows that some Indonesians have heard of Jokowi’s parents who are Christian or Jokowi ethnic Chinese. Some also think the PKI is trying to get back up. The number who knows the news is indeed less than those who do not know it, those who know then believe the news is also less than those who do not believe. The question is, what type of respondent knows and believes in such news?
The issue of communism is considered to be trying to rise known from 28% of groups who expressed interest in political and government issues. Enumeration of respondents in this category further states: that only a small percentage of those who support Jokowi Mufuf 17% believe communism is trying to get up. This finding can be compared with respondents who answered knowing when asked “Did you know or have heard the news that said Prabowo Subianto was involved in the kidnapping and enforced disappearance of democracy activists in 1997-1998?” The amount was 30%.
From the groups that expressed interest in political and government issues, around four out of ten of them knew the news that Prabowo was involved in the kidnapping. In this group of respondents, most of Prabowo’s supporters – Sandiaga 63% did not believe the news. While the majority of 65% of Jokowi’s supporters – Joseph believes. These figures illustrate that someone’s support for Paslon apparently affected his attitude towards tilted issues inherent in the candidate pair they supported.
The rumors of the rise of the People’s Torch present scathing comments from various lines of social media. People who are reluctant and reject the presence of the People’s Torch are bluntly disclosed because they are considered only as a provocative source that is very uneducating and damages public trust in the president.
This certainly proves that hoax news is a serious threat to the nation’s democracy, the public must be observant of the media that sell excitement to destroy the reputation of certain parties. The People’s Torch also has plans to publish online, this is because the Torch of the People wants to keep abreast of the times where press activity began to spread to the digital world.
Responding to this matter, the Press Council Chair Stanley Yosep Adi said that the Pes Council will form an Online Media Task Force to fight abusive media. The task force will coordinate with the National Police and the Director General of Aptika Communication and Information. The task of the Task Force is to monitor and close the media abusively. Stanley said that those who were authorized to close the media were wrong – Kominfo.
The Press Council also ensures that the formation of the Task Force will not close quality media. In addition, the police also must actively participate in suppressing the spread of hoaxes both through print, electronic and online media. The real threat of this country is not from armed invaders, but the real threat of this nation is false news that is capable of tearing apart the unity of Indonesia.
* The author is a student at the University of Subang