By: Rebecca Marian)*
The Free Papua Organization (OPM) misuses social media to provoke people, both in Papua and outside Papua. The people of Indonesia, especially those who live in Cendrawasih Earth, must be aware of OPM’s maneuvers in social media because they are vulnerable to spreading hoaxes and slander.
Social media is very popular in Indonesia because people can express their feelings, either through status or photos. Likewise in Papua, many people also have social media accounts and the internet network there is quite good. Unfortunately, the existence of social media has been misused by the OPM to slander the government and provoke Papuans to join them in defecting.
On Instagram social media there is a hashtag ( hashtag ) #Papuamerdeka. This is very surprising because it shows that someone created this hashtag and the culprit must be the OPM, which for decades has wanted to create the Federal Republic of West Papua. They deliberately made it and provoked the people not to have a sense of nationalism to Indonesia and invited them to rebel together.
The Regent of Manokwari, Hermus Indou, stated that the public should not be easily influenced by the provocations made by the OPM. Especially the provocation regarding the issue of racism and other issues. In a sense, the OPM is scheming by creating content that intentionally ignites a fire in the hearts of the Papuan people and invites them to become independent.
Unfortunately, there are still people on Earth of Cendrawasih who are easily influenced by hoaxes and provocations on social media. Usually they are from the elderly who can just operate a smartphone and then assume all the news is true. In fact, what he read was only hoax and propaganda content created by the OPM.
One of the content created by OPM is the issue of racism and from year to year, they always use it as a weapon. It is said that the central government is very racist and wants to eradicate the Melanesian race found in Papua. The proof is the increased number of security forces in Papua.
In fact, the hoax is a big mistake because there is no specific race eradication program, because it clearly violates human rights (HAM). If there are officers in Papua, they are here to protect the community from interference from the OPM and KST (Separate and Terrorist Groups). Not for any other negative purpose.
The OPM does not like it if the security forces continue to be added to their personnel, therefore they bring up the issue so that the public hates it too. Therefore, the Papuan people should not easily believe in propaganda and hoaxes, and read them with a cool head. It is impossible for the central government to exceed the limit and put forward the issue of SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and between groups).
Another hoax that was blown by the OPM was the statement from Selpius Bobbi that there was no future in Papua. Even though the Papuan people already understand that there are a lot of infrastructure developments on Earth of Cendrawasih, such as the Sentani International Airport and the Trans Papua Road, which are very useful for their community.
Selpius Bobbi, who is a veteran member of the OPM, said there was ‘no future’ because he had given up on trying to defect. This happened because there was an expansion of the province, in which the number of provinces was increased and the number of officers was also increased. His room for movement is getting limited and he is pressed, then makes cynical statements like that.
The Papuan people need to give understanding to those who still believe in hoaxes, that what the OPM has said is wrong. Propaganda is deliberately created to divide peace on the Cendrawasih Earth. Don’t easily believe in content on social media before checking the truth.
In addition, the OPM also took issue when there was Lyodra Ginting singing at the seventeen event at the Palace. He said Papua, be free! Independence in the context of an independent Indonesia. Instead of supporting Papua’s independence. This has even been used as a hoax, as if he supports Papuan independence in front of President Jokowi, even though he is wrong.
The OPM dares to make various hoaxes because they also have the support of elements from other countries who both come from the Melanesian race. Other countries should not support the OPM and should not interfere in Indonesia’s internal affairs. They have crossed the line and should be purged by the United Nations.
For this reason, it is necessary to socialize how to be smart in literacy on social media. The goal is that there are no more ordinary people who are affected by the hoaxes that are scattered, both on Instagram and other social media. They will understand that the hoax is only made by the OPM who wants Papua to be independent, even though the Papuan people really love Indonesia.
People, especially those living in Papua, are obliged to be aware of the provocations made by the OPM on social media (mostly on Instagram). Do not even be influenced and follow the defection. Remember that OPM is always looking for loopholes to get support from the people. In fact, they are at fault for wanting to be independent and breaking the rules.
)* The author is a contributor to the Pertiwi Institute
