1450, The first printing press was invented by a German metalworker named Johannes Gutenberg. The discovery revolutionized the way information is produced and disseminated. More books were printed. Press media developed rapidly.
The historical timeline then led to the opening of public access to the internet or the World Wide Web in 1989. The dissemination of information became even faster and accessible from anywhere as long as one was connected to the internet network.
The rapid growth of the information ecosystem expanding into the digital space has exposed vulnerabilities due to the lack of literacy and critical thinking skills in society. Disinformation exacerbates the phenomenon of misinformation.
Based on the 2021 Digital Literacy survey, the digital literacy score in Indonesia was 3.49 out of a scale of 1-5, indicating a moderate level. Meanwhile, internet usage trends during the pandemic have increased. In 2019, according to the Political Indicators survey, 50 percent of the population used the internet. By 2022, this number had reached 74 percent.
Many parties are eager to test Indonesia's public resilience in facing the information flow during the 2024 political year. This is because the 2024 electoral politics are more competitive than the 2019 Elections. There is no incumbent, and the difference in electability between potential presidential candidates, as indicated by various surveys, can be caught up with.
"Now, it's really tight. Mr. Anies, who is in the third position, has a difference of only 10 percent with the second position. If all undecided voters lean towards Mr. Anies, he could make it to the second round. So, the 2024 Elections are more closely contested than in 2019. Therefore, the likelihood of identity politics and misinformation becoming more significant is higher. Because the marginal effect of a single vote can make the difference between the winner and the loser," said Burhanuddin Muhtadi, the Executive Director of Indikator Politik Indonesia, during the discussion on “Potensi Penyebaran Misinformasi dalam Pemilu 2024 [The Potential Spread of Misinformation in the 2024 Elections]” at Pakarti Center building, Central Jakarta (7/12).
Burhan believes that as more people become connected to the internet, their exposure to misinformation will also increase.
"Well, does this increase also correlate with a rise in the belief in misinformation? If so, that's dangerous," said Burhan.
The traps of selective exposure and political propaganda
From the literature study conducted in Burhan's study, there are two issues of misinformation that spread most easily, namely political and religious issues. In Indonesia, the combination of the two is not something that is rarely found.
Belief in misinformation is influenced by both internal and external factors. Internal factors include confirmation bias, where individuals seek out views and information that confirm their pre-existing opinions. In other words, a person's attitudes and preferences influence their choice of media and information they receive, rather than the other way around.
"People often seek views that reinforce their own beliefs and avoid information that contradicts their opinions. People hear what they want to hear. That's what psychology refers to as confirmation bias," explained Burhan.
The tendency of confirmation bias is exacerbated by social media algorithms that do not support the growth of dialogues between users with different perspectives. As a result, users are only exposed to information or opinions that come from people with similar preferences to their own.
“They are noisy, but it's within their own group of friends. So, there's no conversation or exchange of different information happening there," said Burhan.
Meanwhile, the external factor that determines belief in misinformation is the exposure to messages in the media.
The survey conducted by Indikator Politik during the 2019 Elections showed that although voters used social media to obtain information, it did not correlate with their belief in misinformation.
"It means that social media cannot be blamed. It's not because we access social media that we believe in those strange issues; it's the partisan attitude that determines it. When someone supports Jokowi, they tend not to believe in misinformation attacking Jokowi. And when someone supports Prabowo, they tend to believe negative things about Jokowi," explained Burhan.
The challenge in the 2024 Elections, continued Burhan, is to educate the public so that they are critical and don't believe in disinformation and misinformation, regardless of their respective political preferences.
Buzzer and political elite intrigues also contribute to the disruption of information
A researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandez explained that information disruptions, including misinformation and disinformation, are also influenced by the partisan attitudes of buzzers or online amplifiers. As a winning strategy, cyber armies are often employed by political parties and candidates to engage in political propaganda. Not all political propaganda contains disinformation, but it typically includes half-truths or truths selectively tailored to serve specific interests.
From the analysis conducted by CSIS on Google Trend data, political elite intrigues also cause disruptions in information. For instance, searches related to the 2024 Elections were exceptionally high in January 2023. The high search data was due to the moment of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) press conference revealing the outlines of the presidential candidate they will promote.
Public attention towards the 2024 Election also occurred when President Joko Widodo met the General Chairperson of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, on January 26.
"What's interesting is that most of the high attention the Google search engine has for the 2024 Election actually comes from the political maneuvers carried out by Mr. Jokowi. For example, on January 31, Mr. Jokowi attended the birthday of the PSI (Indonesian Solidarity Party), and he said about presidential candidacy. Then in May, Mr. Jokowi attended a musra (people's deliberation) event and said Indonesia needs a brave leader. Then on May 29, Mr. Jokowi met mass media leaders and content creators, and said he would take part in the Presidential Election," explained Arya in the same discussion.
Arya predicts that the spread of disinformation will increase after the announcement of the definitive candidates and during the official campaign period from November 28 to February 10, 2024. []
This article is translated by Catherine Natalia.
