Made by AI, Communication Expert Says Video of President Jokowi’s Mandarin Speech is a Hoax
Communicologist Emrus Sihombing reminded the public to be alert and not be easily influenced by hoax content circulating on social media.
“The public must increase vigilance because the circulation of hoax content is considered quite massive recently, especially approaching the momentum of the 2024 election,” said Emrus.
Emrus highlighted the circulation of a hoax video showing President Joko Widodo giving a speech in Mandarin. The video was uploaded on social media and went viral.
“The video which narrates that President Jokowi gave a speech in Mandarin is clearly a hoax to encourage negative opinions that President Jokowi is bringing China’s interests to Indonesia,” said Emrus.
Emrus explained that the video was an edit using Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the video of President Jokowi’s speech in 2015 at the Gala Dinner in the United States.
“The original video was actually President Jokowi’s speech in English, but with the help of Artificial Intelligence, the video was manipulated so that President Jokowi appeared to be fluent in Mandarin,” said Emrus.
“The public must be very alert and increase their understanding of checking and reviewing information whose origins are unclear because it is very dangerous for national stability,” continued Emrus.
Emrus Sihombing urged the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) to take firm action to stop the spread of manipulated videos of President Joko Widodo’s speech.
“The Ministry of Communication and Information must massively explain the video of President Jokowi’s speech to the public space. “This video appears to show a spoken speech in Mandarin, which should be accompanied by written text or running text in the original language,” stressed Emrus.
Emrus Sihombing suspects that there are parties who deliberately spread this manipulated video for certain purposes. A number of netizens also demanded that the authorities immediately arrest the perpetrators of spreading this fake video. The video is considered a hoax and false information that could threaten democracy and political stability.
In the midst of the rise of false information and hoaxes ahead of the election, the public is advised to always be careful in receiving information. Make sure to verify the correctness of the information before sharing it.
