The Spread of Hoax News Increases During the 2024 Election

Name: The Spread of Hoax News Increases During the 2024 Election
Uploaded: 2024-05-02T16:26:19Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Without good digital literacy, the spread of hoax news or information will continue to increase in society.

Without good digital literacy, the spread of hoax news or information will continue to increase in society.

This article has been translated using AI. See Original .

ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

· 5 minutes read

PALEMBANG, KOMPAS - The circulation of fake news and hoaxes has drastically increased during the 2024 General Election period. In fact, the amount has rapidly increased in the past five years, especially when compared to the previous election in 2019. This phenomenon cannot be separated from the development of information technology in several digital services. In order to prevent it from becoming more widespread in the future, collaboration from all parties is needed to improve the digital literacy of the community, starting from schools.

This emerged in the discussion with the theme "Findings and Challenges Facing Information Manipulation in the 2024 Election" at the opening of the "Indonesia Fact Checking Summit 2024" in Palembang, South Sumatra, Thursday (2/5/2024 ). The event is part of the XII Congress of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Palembang from 3-5 May 2024.

Also read: Election hoaxes predicted to increase after voting

Chairman of the Presidium of the Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society (Mafindo) Septiaji Eko Nugroho said, from data collected by Mafindo, the spread of hoax news continued to increase during 2018 -2023. The spread of hoax news is closely related to political issues. Therefore, the percentage of hoax news related to politics increases when entering a political year, such as elections.

At least, Mafindo found 997 hoax news articles in 2018 with 48.9% of them related to politics. Entering 2019, the number of hoax news articles found increased to 1,221 with 52.7% related to politics. In 2020, the number of hoax news articles found again increased to 2,298, but those related to politics decreased to 30.5%.

The number of fake news found decreased to 1,888 in 2021 with 22.7 percent related to politics, and 1,698 fake news with 32.3 percent related to politics in 2022. However, in 2023, the findings increased again to 2,330 fake news with 55.5 percent related to politics in 2023.

"In terms of volume, the number of hoax news in 2024 is indeed higher compared to 2019. However, in terms of impact, hoax news in 2019 has worsened polarization (division) in society. Regardless, the phenomenon of hoax news has negative impacts on the community," said Septiaji.

In terms of volume, the number of hoax news in 2024 is indeed bigger compared to 2019. However, in terms of impact, hoax news in 2019 had worsened polarization in society.

Bigger challenge

The form of hoax news dissemination services also undergoes a shift. At least in 2023, hoax news are more widely spread through Youtube (44.6 percent) and Facebook (34.4 percent). The rest is via Tiktok (9.3 percent), Twitter/X (8.0 percent), Whatsapp (1.5 percent), Instagram (1.4 percent), and others (0.2 percent).

Entering 2024, the form of hoax news dissemination services tends to be evenly spread, namely through Youtube (23 percent), Tiktok (21 percent), Facebook (21 percent), Twitter (16 percent), and Whatsapp (11 percent). The rest are spread through Instagram (5 percent) and others (2 percent).

Reminding Tiktok's role as a forum for spreading hoax news also shows the transformation of the content used, namely from writing and photos to videos. This means that hoax news spreaders are no longer just buzzers,but content framing (media framing).

This will be a big challenge for the fact checking ecosystem. Moreover, the fact checking capacity is only 400-500 stories per month. In contrast, the hoax news produced by content framing creators is much larger. On a YouTube or Tiktok channel, for example, one account can make 4-5 videos per day. The number of accounts and channels available reaches tens.

Also read: Persistent in stemming increasingly sophisticated hoaxes

Not only that, the challenges are getting worse as access to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes easier. One of the hoax news content that is most difficult to fact-check is audio news that has an AI touch. So far, the level of confidence in fact checking technology for audio news with an AI touch is only 70 percent.

Therefore, tackling the spread of hoaxes is not enough by simply fact-checking. Together, we must be able to prevent it by providing education to the community so that they do not easily believe in the information they receive," said Septiaji.

This is supported by data submitted by Coalition Coordinator CekFakta Adi Marsiela. At least, CekFakta carried out debunking (removal of facts) on around 600 news articles in 2018. This figure increased to around 1,000 articles in 2019 and shot up to around 2,800 articles in 2020. After decreasing to around 2,500 articles in 2021 and approximately 2,400 articles in 2022, that number jumps to around 3,500 articles in 2023.

This figure is expected to continue to increase in 2024. At least, precisely, CekFakta carried out debunking on 3,523 news articles throughout January-December 2023. However, until April 20 2024, they had carried out debunking i> against 2,268 articles.

Also read: Strengthening Digital Literacy Protects Society from the Spread of Hoaxes

The details are as follows: 851 articles or 37.5 percent are related to the presidential election (pilpres), 312 articles (13.7 percent) on politics, 289 articles (12.7 percent) on foreign affairs, 255 articles (11.2 percent) on fraud, and 171 articles (7.5 percent) on disasters.

Adi confirmed that not all articles can be debunked, but only those in the form of results, achievements or targets. If it is in the form of a promise, they cannot confirm the facts. "For this, we need collaboration with many parties, especially as the challenge of fighting the spread of fake news will become increasingly difficult during regional head elections (pilkada) because each region has different candidates," he said.

Address the root of the problem

Septiaji said that preventing the spread of fake news or misleading must be pursued to the root of the problem. The root of the problem is the level of digital literacy or people's critical power in receiving information through digital services. This needs to be given separate or special understanding.

Otherwise, victims of fake news can trap anyone, including highly educated people who conduct research or studies. "Currently, society is increasingly unfamiliar with curated information. Often, they are trapped by their digital behavior (algorithm)," he said.

Also read: Throughout This Year, 1,100 Hoax Information Related to Elections Circulated on Digital Media

According to Septiaji, overcoming this problem can be done in the short term and long term. If in the short term the role of a holistic fact checking ecosystem is needed, in the long term the role of education is needed so that the younger or future generations have better digital literacy.

It's not surprising that in the near future, the government will include computer science lessons starting from junior high school (SMP). "One of the materials will provide learning on how to uncover facts from suspected information," he said.

False or misleading news will harm many parties. Therefore, countering its spread requires the involvement of all relevant parties. "Because it is complex, this problem cannot be solved individually. We all must collaborate, from the community, media, to academics. This collaboration must also involve stakeholders who have power, namely the government," said Ummi Salamah, a communication lecturer at the University of Indonesia.

Google Indonesia's News Partner Manager, Yos Kusuma, stated that no matter how sophisticated the technology is, it cannot completely eliminate the spread of fake or misleading news. This is because users of society shape their own digital behavior or determine their own algorithms. Therefore, the participation of civil society is needed to address this.

Also read: Hoax Production Increasingly Sophisticated, Increasing Collaboration Against Disinformation

"The key to solving this problem is to create a better digital ecosystem. This requires good collaboration and communication among relevant parties. Sometimes, collaboration is hindered by poor communication. On the other hand, smooth communication will not have an impact if the spirit of collaboration has not been established," he said.

Editor:

NELI TRIANA

The Spread of Hoax News Increases During the 2024 Election

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Bigger challenge

Address the root of the problem