By: Nana Gunawan *)
The 2024 regional elections are in sight. As the Pilkada approaches, the spread of hoaxes and black campaigns tends to become more widespread. The hoaxes that emerge generally not only attack political figures who will contest in the 2024 regional elections, but also attack the credibility of political parties, party leaders, and supporters of opposing political parties. The various hoaxes that are spread usually consist of fake news about identity politics, racial issues, or other accusations that manipulate the content of black campaign content.
Hoaxes not only have the potential to influence and damage the common sense of their readers, hoaxes can also have an impact on delegitimizing the process of holding regional elections. In fact, the uncontrolled spread of hoaxes and black campaigns on social media can disrupt peace and give rise to disintegration or open conflict in society.
The spread of hoaxes and black campaigns is clearly counterproductive for the development of democracy in the country. The act of bringing down political opponents through various negative propaganda, apart from being unhealthy, often causes damage to the credibility of political figures and institutions. Black campaigns and hoaxes that are repeated and recirculated continuously can make people unable to differentiate between true and false information, so that it will be difficult for people to obtain the accuracy of information.
The rise of hoaxes and black campaigns spread through various social media platforms will intensively claim victims. Not a few people are shaky and drawn into unclear ideological conflicts, which can have an impact on people’s uncritical thinking. The presence of the internet and social media has become a habitus that allows the acceleration of the emergence of hoaxes to become more frequent and widespread. It cannot be denied that the emergence of hoaxes and black campaigns is an unavoidable risk in regional elections.
Chairman of the Indonesian Election and Democracy Reporters Coalition (KPPD), Achmad Satryo, said that hoax news spread on a number of social media platforms had increased sharply ahead of the 2024 Regional Elections. Reflecting on this, Achmad said that it must be a serious concern for all parties so that the simultaneous Regional Elections in 2024 do not occur. Again. He also hopes that journalists can present factual news so that they can reduce hoax news that can harm the public and even the Regional Head candidates themselves. Apart from that, Achmad Satryo also reminded journalists to remain professional and independent. In this Pilkada momentum, of course media crews must act neutrally because journalists must submit to the truth and public interest.
Meanwhile, Bawaslu Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) invited the mass media to supervise the implementation of the 2024 Pilkada. Chairman of Bawaslu Sultra, Iwan Rompo Banne said the importance of the contribution and role of the mass media in providing education to all elements of society regarding the implementation of the Pilkada so that the public can also be involved in monitoring and monitoring the regional elections which has an impact on avoiding hoax news.
Then, ahead of the regional elections which will be held on November 27, Diskominfo SP Tuban observed the potential for an increase in the number of fake news or hoaxes on social media, remembering the experience at the elections in February where hoaxes disrupted the democratic process and created distrust in society.
Head of Communications and Public Information Division of SP Tuban Diskominfo, Rita Zahara Afrianti, said that through the Hoax Clinic, her party continues to strive to straighten out any false information or hoaxes circulating in the community with the aim of providing clarification and education, so that the public can get correct and trustworthy information. . He also hopes that the efforts made through the Hoax Clinic can keep the 2024 regional elections peaceful, high-quality and healthy in order to improve the quality of democracy in Indonesia.
Apart from that, Rita Zahara Afrianti appealed to all elements of society to be wise in choosing and speaking out, especially on social media platforms. In a digital era full of information flow, people are expected to be more careful before receiving or disseminating information. He emphasized that before spreading information, it is certain that the public must read and verify its truth by filtering and re-checking the information.
Furthermore, he hopes that with collaboration and active participation from all parties to prevent the circulation of hoaxes and black campaigns on social media, the implementation of the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Elections in November can run smoothly, safely and peacefully, as well as the realization of better democracy in Indonesia.
For the millennial generation and Gen Z who use gadgets more than other generations, if this is not balanced with the readiness of critical media literacy to respond to objective news, they can easily fall into provocations or hoaxes that are detrimental to the running of the regional elections. To prevent and be alert so as not to fall for hoaxes, one important key is critical literacy support. In this way, sensitivity is needed in criticizing and evaluating the information obtained. The public can also play a role in realizing healthy regional elections by monitoring information related to regional elections from the official KPU website to minimize hoax news circulating.
*) The author is a Political Observer, Nusa Bangsa Institute.
