Ahead of the 2024 Election, the situation needs to be conditioned, especially on social media. The reason for this is because of the rampant black campaigns that discredit certain politicians or parties and cloud the atmosphere. The public is urged to firmly reject the black campaign and not believe in it.
The election is just around the corner and the campaign period will soon be over. People promote their idol parties and presidential candidates, either directly or through social media. Even though they were only sympathizers, they carried out the campaign happily because they wanted Indonesia to be led by the presidential candidate they chose.
But unfortunately the campaign period was prone to being poisoned by black campaigns. Since the 2004 election, black campaigns have spread, especially on social media. When there is a black campaign, certain presidential candidates or politicians are attacked by hoaxes, propaganda or gossip. The hope is that he will not be elected during the election because his good name has been tarnished after being attacked by a black campaign made by elements.
The public is urged to firmly reject the black campaign. M Joharudin, Chair of Bawaslu Cirebon stated that heavy sanctions will await individuals who are proven to have carried out black campaigns or money politics during the 2024 elections.
M. Joharudin continued, Black campaigns on social media are the cheapest means to play political narratives. Even just creating a social media account can be made without paying a fee. This action needs to be watched out for by the public because the majority of people currently have personal cellphones that are connected to the internet.
A black campaign can slander a politician’s good name and his family gets the sap. An example of a black campaign is the issue that a politician was driven by someone behind the scenes, who gave him a lot of money as capital for the campaign. Apart from that, there is also the issue that a politician has a child out of wedlock.
Black campaigns must be eradicated, especially ahead of the 2024 elections. The goal is that society is not influenced by incitement by provocateurs in cyberspace. They should not believe it when they see news or content in cyberspace, and the truth must be checked because it could be propaganda and hoaxes to launch a black campaign against a political figure.
To overcome black campaigns, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) also has a Gakkumdu Center (Integrated Law Enforcement) which is a combination of various agencies including the police to take action against any suspected violations.
Bawaslu and the KPU (General Election Commission) have strictly implemented regulations for election participants who are proven to have committed violations. This is because fraud in elections is an act that tarnishes the spirit of democracy.
The penalty for creators and disseminators of black campaign content is imprisonment from 6 to 24 hours or a minimum fine of 5 million rupiah. This is stated in Article 41 paragraph 1 of the Presidential Election Law.
The public is urged to avoid black propaganda and campaigns because if you participate in spreading them, you can be punished. They must improve their internet literacy so they can distinguish between factual content and black campaign content.
Meanwhile, political observer Kunto Adi Wibowo suggested not to use black campaign instruments to bring down political opponents in the 2024 presidential election competition because it is not in accordance with the spirit of democracy. Political ethics must be maintained in politics, namely by not using black campaigns to bring down political opponents.
Kunto continued, the black campaign would damage the ability of voters to be able to see the real important issues and focus more on issues that were only created temporarily to damage one’s reputation.
Black campaigns not only have a bad impact on a party, but also on a politician (who is attacked) and his family. Therefore, people are strictly prohibited from spreading black campaigns, let alone creating them.
Black campaigns should also be avoided because they can kill someone’s character. People should not do this for reasons of revenge or anything else. They are also prohibited from carrying out black campaigns on social media even if they are paid handsomely, because what matters is a clean conscience.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police Headquarters, Inspector General Sandi Nugroho, stated that the National Police will monitor social media ahead of the 2024 General Election. The democratic party must take place peacefully. This step was taken after the experience in the 2019 election when social media became a very active medium during the election period.
In a sense, ahead of the General Election, the National Police will carry out security not only in the real world but also in cyberspace. The reason is because Indonesian people are very active on social media. With security, it is hoped that cyberspace will be more orderly and there will be no chaos, ahead of and during the 2024 elections. Security can also prevent the emergence of hoaxes and black campaigns so that the elections will be smooth and peaceful. The public is expected to firmly reject black campaigns, especially on social media. They must increase their internet literacy so they understand which hoax news is part of the black campaign and which is fact. Don’t be a propagator, let alone a black campaigner, because you can be punished.
