General elections or general elections are the pinnacle of the democratic system. The people are given the opportunity to elect representative leaders in government to determine the future direction of the nation. Of course, this election is very important because the policies of the elected leaders will have an impact on people’s lives in the future.
The public will be faced with the general election, on February 14 2024. The 2024 election in Indonesia, with all its technological and communication advances, brings great hopes and challenges in the form of hoaxes or fake news. Hoaxes or fake news in the midst of a heated political situation will have a bad impact, especially for society, starting from inevitable polarization to causing destructive conflicts.
According to KBBI, hoaxes are information that is made up or engineered to cover up real information. In other words, a hoax is defined as an attempt to distort facts using information that seems convincing but cannot be verified. Hoaxes are a phenomenon caused by developments in technology and communication, especially with the emergence of various types of media freely on the internet, of course not all media provide credible news.
Ahead of the 2024 election, social media certainly has a significant role in efforts to disseminate information related to current political issues. However, like conventional media, social media also has a negative impact on readers if it is not used properly.
Motivated by differences in choices and then fueled by news that vilifies each other, this causes polarization to occur and ultimately causes people with different choices to insult and insult each other. Such treatments lead to unhealthy political conditions. Additionally, media algorithms tend to create “information bubbles” where users are exposed to information that only matches their views, thereby inhibiting exposure to differing viewpoints. The existence of this media algorithm will of course make each individual anti-views that are contrary to theirs.
Hoaxes or fake news that spread quickly in society are one of the factors that the Situbondo General Election Commission (KPU) is wary of during the journey to the 2024 Election. The KPU has also prepared anticipation to combat the spread of hoaxes by reporting news as well, involving the role of journalists. With the participation of journalists, it is hoped that hoaxes during the 2024 elections can be resisted and prevented.
The KPU and Media partnership activities were packaged in a media gathering at the Rosali Hotel, with the theme “The Role of the Media in the Successful Implementation of Elections and the 2024 Election Declaration without Hoaxes”. Situbondo KPU’s HR and Community Participation (Parmas) Division, Imam Nawawi said, this activity was in order to build a partnership between the Situbondo KPU and the media. This is very important, because the media is a strategic partner in realizing elections with integrity without hoaxes. Imam explained that the media is like a holder of information whose credibility is trusted. If journalists say they are positive, then the world is also positive.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Situbondo KPU, Marwoto, said that this media gathering was a public relations strategy for the KPU in the context of partnership with journalists. With the current prevalence of hoaxes, the KPU must collaborate with journalists, so that there is input in educating the public to be wary of irresponsible news.
According to Marwoto, journalists have an anti-hoax press network, so the KPU feels it is important to embrace it. Also to strengthen the KPU’s relationship with journalists. The involvement of journalists in preventing hoaxes is by reporting accurate, correct and balanced information during the election stages. It is not hoax news that is displayed, but real activities that are distributed that provide complete and correct information.
Apart from being a KPU partner, said Marwoto, the media also provides education regarding the consequences of the hoax itself. Apart from embracing the media, the KPU is also collaborating with various parties to counter hoaxes, such as the media, mass organizations and communities that can counter hoax news.
This information disruption is something that cannot be avoided ahead of the election. Moreover, his presence has the potential to present a lot of fake news or hoaxes about the election. Therefore, the Batang Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) invites its members to be more updated regarding the latest trends. One of the ways this can be realized is by holding a public relations coordination meeting with the supervisory committee and the media.
Apart from that, it is hoped that with technological developments, the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) can utilize existing media to increase public openness. So there is a need to increase the competency of Panwaslu ranks, to understand current media trends.
Bawaslu Batang Head of Prevention, Community Participation and Public Relations Division, Nur Faizin said that Panwaslu must be open to publishing the results of supervision. Transparency is needed so that the performance of the Election Supervisory Committee can be seen by the public. Publication can be done through the social media of each District Election Supervisory Committee (Panwascam) that has been created.
This aims to establish relationships, so that the public understands how Bawaslu works, including at the sub-district level. His party wants to provide information on the performance results of Bawaslu ranks including Panwascam to the public. Then there are things that people need in order to become smart and good voters. This information can be conveyed through mass media and social media for each Panwascam. Like on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok. Therefore, it is hoped that voters will be able to use their voting rights correctly and understand which leader candidate they will choose.
