By : Arzan Malik Narendra)*
Eradicating all content and accounts that contain or are affiliated with efforts to spread radicalism, terrorism and separatism will indeed be able to contribute to efforts to ensure that the 2024 General Election can run peacefully.
In order to create a situation in the implementation of democratic parties and political contestation at the upcoming General Election (Pemilu) in 2024 that is peaceful and conducive, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kemenkominfo RI) has terminated access or taken down as many as 174 accounts and also content on the internet.
Of course, before terminating access or taking down hundreds of accounts and content, the Ministry of Communication and Information had previously carried out tracking and assessment first, after confirming that the accounts and content were indicated to contain indoctrination activities and the spread of radicalism, then immediate action was taken.
It is known that the action to terminate access or take down was carried out by the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information in the period July to August 2023. Regarding this matter, the Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, emphasized that what they were doing was also in accordance with the directions given by the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to be able to create a peaceful 2024 election event.
Not only itself, but the Ministry of Communication and Information has also collaborated with other parties and institutions such as the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and also the National Terrorism Handling Agency (BNPT) to be able to continue monitoring all digital platforms which are deemed to have contained radicalism content up to terrorism.
It turns out that the results of monitoring carried out by the two institutions that assist the Ministry of Communication and Information show a significant increase in the spread of radicalism content. No half-hearted, there are even several accounts affiliated with Jemaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD) and Jemaah Islamiah (JI).
Based on a report from the Directorate of Informatics Application Control, Directorate General of Informatics Applications (Aptika) of the Ministry of Communication and Information, 174 accounts and content found during the month were spread across various digital platforms. Most on the Twitter platform, namely 116 content, then 46 Facebook content, 11 Instagram content and 1 YouTube content.
The Ministry of Communication and Information’s readiness to cut off access to radicalism and terrorism content is in accordance with Law number 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Republic of Indonesia Law 11/2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions.
Minister Budi Arie added that up to now, apart from tracking various suspicious content and accounts assisted by BNPT and TNI, the Ministry of Communication and Information itself continues to search for content on websites or various platforms using the AIS machine every two hours. to be able to browse various accounts that spread content of terrorism, radicalism and separatism.
Therefore, he asked all people in all circles and levels in the country to avoid spreading content containing radical, terrorist and separatist beliefs as much as possible. If it turns out, for example, that someone in the community finds such content or accounts, then they can report it directly to aduankonten.id and then it will be followed up immediately.
All efforts to prevent various types of content and accounts that are indicative of radicalism, terrorism or the spread of fake news or hoaxes have been taken by the Ministry of Communication and Information to be able to further ensure how the General Election will be held in a productive and healthy manner for the people of Indonesia.
In the future, the Ministry of Communication and Information itself has a strong commitment to preparing cross-ministerial and cross-institutional coordination so that all content that may have a negative content does not damage peace in the digital space ahead of the implementation of the democratic party for all citizens in Indonesia. One way to ensure that the election is peaceful is by handling content that contains elements of radicalism.
Then, in terms of content or accounts that are indicated to contain elements of radicalism, the Ministry of Communication and Information itself will coordinate across ministries, namely with the Indonesian Ministry of Religion (Kemenag).
In fact, the essence of holding elections is that they should be able to continue and increasingly unite fellow members of the nation and also be able to contribute to improving the quality of democratic principles. Therefore, the Indonesian Government is trying to invite the entire community to take part and play an active role.
Make joint efforts to create a democratic party and political contestation in the 2024 General Election in a peaceful manner, so eradicating all content and accounts that are indicated to be related to elements of the spread of radicalism, terrorism and separatism should continue to be carried out.
)* Contributor to the Nusa Cyber Institute