The Importance of Vigilance Against Misinformation on Social Media Ahead of the 2024 Election
It is very important for all people from all elements in Indonesia to continue to increase their respective vigilance in order to be able to fight against the spread of fake news, hoaxes and misinformation that is widely spread on various social media, especially ahead of the implementation of the democratic party and political contestation in the General Election (Pemilu) event. in 2024.
One of the media platforms for distributing short videos which also has many users in the country, namely TikTok, continues to take its initiative and proactive steps to protect the integrity of the election and also strives to fight misinformation.
This step was taken in their campaign with the hashtag #Take Care of Each Other through a very creative video guide, which serves to provide education to all users and the general public in cyberspace. Not only does it show a video, but the platform also has several other initiatives which aim to continue to remind the wider community so that they can take care of each other when expressing themselves.
It’s not enough to stop there, it is very important to emphasize to the general public that Indonesia is a country that highly upholds the principles of democracy, so freedom of opinion is truly protected. However, in order to express your opinion, you should also protect yourself, because in the internet world, all people have the same opportunity and right to have different views regarding anything.
Especially ahead of the democratic party which will be held in Indonesia in 2024, the wider distribution of conversation to society must also be accompanied by polite and ethical speech.
Regarding this matter, TikTok Indonesia’s Public Policy and Government Relations, Faris Mufid, revealed that the heavy flow of information that continues to flow every day often makes all netizens feel overwhelmed when they want to process the existing information, including to confirm the credibility of any information provided. they find them on digital platforms and social media.
Therefore, TikTok itself then strives to continue to help the entire community to not only be prepared to face various kinds of information flows, but also to be able to understand how to prevent the spread of misinformation in the digital realm.
The reason is, security in the digital world is the responsibility of all parties and only by working together will everyone be able to protect each other to avoid various negative content and misinformation on social media.
In its efforts, TikTok also collaborates with several well-known public figures and creators from various professional backgrounds and generations. It is hoped that by taking part these public figures will be able to provide creative education about how social media users can protect each other on various other digital platforms through a series of tips to fight misinformation, so that the campaign can be understood and then implemented by the wider community.
One of the content creators, Merry Riana, revealed that there are technological advances that can help all groups, including the younger generation, to be braver in voicing their opinions. However, these various conveniences should also be accompanied by a great sense of responsibility.
So it is very important for all netizens to play a role in protecting each other, for example by implementing the habit of checking facts first before sharing anything, including video footage. Don’t spread it straight away without first knowing the contents of the entire context and its truth.
Meanwhile, another TikTok creator, Dimas Ramadhan, believes that all content creators really need to play their role credibly and reliably, whatever type of content category they present to the public.
Often people only see video snippets or quotes that are deliberately uploaded so that they can lead to a certain context so that the meaning is far from the actual incident or there is often irresponsible content that spreads narratives from only one party.
For this reason, before re-sharing content obtained from social media or information viewed on various digital platforms, you should do a cross check first and find out the truth of the information so that all parties can protect each other from the dangers of misleading misinformation. It is important to continue to improve self-vigilance, especially ahead of the 2024 elections.
