By: Alfisyah Kumalasari )*
Hoax is information that is not true but is made as true as it is so that it is trusted by the person who receives it. Ahead of New Normal, apparently the public must remain vigilant of various hoaxes that could infect social media.
On May 5, 2020, the AIS Team of the Directorate General of Aptika Kominfo showed that there were more than 1,400 hoax content and co-19 disinformation circulating in the community. On the Twitter platform alone 375 hoax issues have been found, while on Facebook 999 content has been taken down.
The spread of hoaks in the community is done in 3 ways. The first way is through the internet network by using a blog or website. The second way is through posting on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The third way is through the whatsApp group, this is what seems to be quite dangerous because the hoaxes on whatsapp seem to be most easily spread.
Hoaks issues circulating in the community include government programs, positive corona patients, and tips on how to avoid invalid corona viruses that may not even be proven. These contents are what have made people uneasy and hinder the handling of the corona virus in Indonesia.
Also note that hoaks makers and spreaders can get legal sanctions with imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of 1 billion rupiah.
We certainly cannot have immunity to hoax news, but we have a role to hold our fingers from spreading hoax news to other people. Before spreading the news, of course we must pay attention to the headline that we receive. We must be careful of headlines that seem provocative and utilize issues that are trending.
In addition, we must also be vigilant with any messages in the form of forward messages, be careful if the end of the message contains an invitation to disseminate information, especially if the information contains threats if it does not spread.
Thus, we certainly have contributed to being a wise citizen in responding to the news that is spread. Looking for comparative news with trusted sources is certainly a wise thing we can do to counter the narrative of the hoaxes that continue to emerge during the covid-19 pandemic.
Then what can we do to counter the hoax narratives that are still difficult to debate in total? Of course, by campaigning for healthy lifestyles on various social media that we have.
A clean and healthy lifestyle has actually been an appeal for a long time, such as the 6 steps of washing hands with soap. But this habit has only really been applied since the co-19 pandemic occurred. This is evidenced by the existence of hand washing facilities available at the entrance of public facilities such as shopping centers.
Ahead of the application of the new normal phase, of course we need to campaign for the importance of implementing physical distancing. Because after all, new normal does not mean freeing us from health protocol. New Normal is an attempt by the government to turn the wheels of the economy again but by still implementing health protocols when outside the home.
The next campaign is a campaign to keep diligently washing hands. This is certainly worth campaigning on a massive scale, so that the application of new normal is expected to bring up new habits of society to prevent transmission of the corona virus.
Millennials certainly have unlimited creativity to create content that contains an invitation to comply with all health protocols that are duly adhered to.
Nowadays the ease of media makes it easier for anyone to create content. Therefore the hoax content on the internet should be confronted with positive content.
At least the positive content will become a comparison when hoax news appears and spreads in various groups of whatsApp.
Hoaxes appear to create chaos, hoaxes also come up with something that looks really convincing. The narrative that was built seemed to hypnotize news consumers to spread it to various WAGs.
Hoax that is difficult to contain must be resisted by various efforts, an easy step to prevent it is by not easily spreading fordward messages and continuing to productively campaign for a clean lifestyle in welcoming the new normal phase.
)* The writer is active in the Press Circle and Cikini Students