- 18/10/2017
- Categories: Commentaries, Press Release
The development of technology makes information in social media and the internet spread faster. One of the challenges faced by the Indonesian government in the middle of the current information distribution is the number of negative content, fake news or hoaxes that make the hate speech tension in social media even higher. The low level of digital literacy among society is also one of the triggers of easy-to-believe Indonesians with false news and hoaxes.
To counter this, National Movement of Digital Literacy #SIBERKREASI comes and takes a handful of cross-parties to campaign about the importance of digital literacy. This movement is supported by the government, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, 38 digital literacy national activists consisting of government and non-government organizations, community institutions, communities, and educational institutions.
As a part of the campaign series of #SIBREKREASI, today (15/10) held “Digital Literacy Festival #FIRAL” event in FISIPOL UGM which aims to educate Yogyakarta people to be wise in using social media. Attending the event was Minister of Communication and Informatics, Rudiantara who also became the speaker in Talkshow session.
“The government is not carelessly blocking site. That is why there is a term called digital literacy. We invite the participation of the wider society to be wise and smart in accessing the internet.” said Rudiantara in his speech.
The event was divided into two sessions, workshops (Masterclass) and talkshow series (Creatalks). The workshop (Masterclass) was filled by various speakers from various backgrounds who are specially concerned about digital topics, such as Iqbal Rezeki Awal (SiberPramuka), Dhony Firmansyah (Slide and Infographic Specialist), Hilma Al Madani (Trainer and Psychologist of Yayasan Kita dan Buah Hati), Prof. Henri Subiakto (Professor of Airlangga University Surabaya).
The talkshow session (Creatalks) was opened by Mr. Rudiantara (Minister of Communication and Informatics of Republic of Indonesia), Prof. Panut Mulyono (Rector of UGM), and moderated by Dr. Novi Kurnia (Researcher of JAPELIDI). Speakers at the talkshow swere Samuel Pangarepan (General Director of Applications and Informatics – Ministry of Communications and Informatics), Prof. Henri Subiakto (Airlangga University Professor), Gerald Sebastian (Founder of Youtube Channel KokBisa), and Tretan Muslim (Comica/Stand-up Comedian).
Gadjah Mada University, through Center for Digital Society (CfDS) Fisipol UGM, as the host and supporter of this event also expressed the full support for #SIBREKREASI movement. Efforts to continously improve the digital literacy capability of the community are pursued by CfDS UGM through various researches and campaigns that are routinely performed and become the work programs.
“Increasing the intensity of internet usage also raise the urgency to increase our knowledge of digital literacy. For that we need a cross-party collaboration to encourage people to become more digitally literate. This #FIRAL event is one of the right starting point.”, Prof. Panut said.
The event was attended by 600 participants from various backgrounds. Public in Yogyakarta city declares its readiness to support #SIBREKREASI together with the enthusiasm shown during the event. The long-term target of this movement is projected to improve the digital literacy ability of Indonesian society, so Indonesians are able to use social media wisely.
