By: Edward Krey )*
The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) recently blocked a number of internet services in Papua and surrounding areas. This followed riots at a number of points in Papua and West Papua.
The Ministry of Communication and Information also stressed that the blocking will be lifted after the situation and conditions in Papua and its surroundings return to normal.
Rudiantara as the Minister of Communication and Information, Rudiantara explained, that the temporary blocking of data services in Papua and West Papua was carried out in order to maintain national security.
Of course there are pros and cons to this, given that the internet has become an inseparable part of humanity.
We all understand that the riots that occurred in Papua were the result of the spread of videos circulating in various lines of social media, although there were only a few videos but the distribution was very fast, in just seconds, people in Papua could be ignited by their anger.
However, the blocking step still reaps criticism from PKS politician Hidayat Nur Wahid who said that the Government must be more mature, and not use repressive methods with internet blocking.
However, the government in any country will certainly be difficult to prevent the spread of hoax information, given that it is very easy for citizens to create anonymous accounts to spread slander and excessive reporting. Just imagine if the number of Cyber policies there are 100 people, then it could be 10 people spreader hoaks have 10 to 20 anonymous accounts that could have spread hoaks and the distribution has already been swallowed raw – raw by citizens, this is certainly dangerous.
So there is no other way but to do temporary blocking until the atmosphere is really conducive.
Even so for people who want to communicate, it can still be through telephone connections or short message services (SMS). So the government did not act so repressively as expected.
Rudiantara also stated that internet access restrictions were temporary. He also hopes that if the atmosphere is more conducive, internet services will be reopened as before.
Head of the Public Relations Division of the Police Public Relations Division of the National Police Commissioner Asep Adi Saputra, also confirmed that the blocking was carried out based on the results of coordination of the Ministry of Communication and Information with law enforcement institutions and related institutions.
According to him, the communication and communication step in blocking internet data services is also an aid to create a conducive atmosphere in Papua and West Papua by preventing incorrect information from circulating.
This means that blocking the internet for a while is not something without a clear reason. This is done solely for the security of the people of Papua from the threat of hoax and slander news, bearing in mind that when chaos or social disasters such as riots occur, it will be very easy for anyone to become a journalist without a newspaper.
Blocking itself is expected to accelerate the process of restoring the security and order situation in Papua and surrounding areas. Usually, restrictions on internet access by Kominfo are carried out to prevent hoaxes or false news related to riots.
Blocking or slowing down internet access is certainly a warning that people in Papua do not necessarily become journalists and do not swallow information that is not necessarily true.
Previously, the Ministry of Communication and Information had slowed down internet access in several regions in Papua, on Monday, August 19, 2019. Access slowdown was done to prevent the spread of hoaks that triggered mass action during anarchist acts in several regions in Papua.
At that time Kominfo succeeded in identifying 2 news hoaks, namely a hoax of photos of Papuans who had been beaten by officials in Surabaya and a hoax that stated that the Surabaya Police had kidnapped 2 food delivery people for Papuan students.
The hoax, if not debated, will certainly add to the anger of the Papuan people, so that demonstrations can continue and become more chaotic.
This means that there are important lessons to be gained from this temporary blocking, namely: do not be easily provoked by provocative news, filter before sharing where there are no citizens who are immune to hoaks, so internet users need to filter out news that if necessary needs to be spread, if not necessary enough we read the news and don’t need to spread it.
)* The writer is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta