By: Ariza Fahleivi *
The biggest celebration of Indonesia’s democracy will be held in April 2019. One day that determines Indonesia’s fate for the next five years is the form of conveying the aspirations of the people to the government. This is democracy, when there is no limit to people’s opinions, criticisms, or even spreading hate speech.
The more the age develops, the more booming the people’s singing on social media with various types of content. Some provide education to the community, are able to build awareness or openness of the public about democracy, spread opposition provocations, or even spread false news in the interest of winning one-party brands.
The most dangerous thing is the spread of false news that ordinary people easily accept. They do not yet know how to filter news that is very easy to make and very easily disseminated through various types of social media. So it is not uncommon for their emotions to be provoked because they are provoked by false news and the emergence of slanders in the community.
Indeed, it is not easy to distinguish between false news and true news, especially if the hoaxes or hoaxes are difficult to block because they are very quickly spread on social media. What is very worrying is the emergence of dislike or great slander among the people so that it is divided.
In fact, Indonesia is a unitary state whose philosophy is clearly the Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. However, just because people are not responsible, those who make negative content to win their choices sacrifice many lives to create hatred.
General Elections or Elections should be an opportunity for people to flock to give aspirations and concerns to the homeland, but with false news that fools the community, which makes anxious social media netizens, the Election is used as a tool to break down the idealists of society to care for their nation . It’s very unfortunate.
The public should use social media to look for the vision, mission, track record, and programs of the presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairs or legislative candidates who will be elected during the upcoming elections. However, people are more interested in things that speak of hate, false news, and slander.
Article 69 of Law Number 10 of 2016 has clearly stated prohibitions in campaigns such as inciting, defaming, pitting political parties, individuals and or groups of people. This article should be an attitude to follow up the spread of hoaxes or hoaxes on social media. However, in reality law enforcers have not maximally followed the issue of serious news lying on social media.
The impact of false news, in addition to threatening the unity of Indonesia, also the increasing number of people who are saturated are provoked by hoaxes and hatred that cause people to become apathetic towards democracy. They assume that democracy is only a matter of wrongdoing, or a matter of competing in dropping opponents. Apathy is reflected in not being involved in a democratic party or called Golput.
Abstentions also become a disease of society’s democracy, of course, thus showing a low level of community participation. Those who should use their voting rights to give aspirations actually do not use their right to vote properly.
The hope is that Election organizers can be more responsive if there are hoaxes that are spread on social media, especially those relating to the process of holding the 2019 Election so that they are immediately acted firmly, because hoaxes threaten and endanger national unity. In addition, as a responsible Indonesian citizen, they must believe that ignoring the right to vote in elections has a negative impact on the determination of the sustainability of national development. For this reason, young people, especially citizens, so that they can use their voting rights intelligently and not be subject to news hoaxes and provocations for Golput, let us succeed in the 2019 Election in a peaceful and dignified manner while maintaining national unity.
- Alumni of Gontor Islamic Boarding School
