- 06/02/2023
- Category: Siaran Pers
[PRESS RELEASE] CfDS and Perludem Response on How Digital Literacy Matters in the Upcoming 2024 General Election | Digitalk #55
The use of social media and the internet has become an integral part of election campaigns and political party activities, especially for this upcoming 2024 general election. Along with the opportunities for campaign teams to develop their campaign strategies, the development of the media also brings several challenges and threats to the society, including a massive spread of hoaxes and hate speech amidst the low level of digital literacy. Center for Digital Society tries to address this issue through Digitalk #55 entitled “Digital Literacy Challenges towards the 2024 General Election”. In collaboration with Perludem, this event invited Heroik M Pratama (Researcher at Perludem) as a speaker and moderated by Iradat Wirid (Researcher at Center for Digital Society). Digitalk #55 can be rewatched through Digitalk #55 “Tantangan Literasi Digital menuju Pemilu 2024”
Heroik M Pratama started the discussion by highlighting how social media is currently not only used as a conventional public space but also as a digital space for political contestation in influencing voter behavior. According to him, this consequently leads to the spread of negative campaigns and identity politics. It is not surprising that these implications can be seen from the proliferation of fake political news (hoaxes), misleading and confusing during the election period.
The forms of negative campaigns and identity politics are increasing massively in the post-truth era. “In the era of post-truth society, the public will believe in issues whose truth is not necessarily valid. This then leads to more people considering false information as the “real” reality in society,” said Heroik.
Heroik emphasized that the skill of digital literacy needs to be understood by the public to fight voter suppression. Through the role of digital literacy, information about elections is not only limited to one issue or a group. Society will also be considered to be more prepared in dealing with the negative impacts of hoaxes by having a clear idea of digital literacy.
In response to this, Perludem, through its instrument of the multi-stakeholder forum, is trying to escalate the level of digital literacy in society by affiliating with parties that have a focus on digital democracy. These parties take part in several aspects, starting from Legal Strengthening, Coordination Forums, Prebunking, Literacy of Election, Content Moderation, to Debunking.
At the end of the session, Heroik invited the audience to take a role in fighting the challenges related to the issue of digital literacy in the upcoming 2024 General Election. “It’s a must to spread nonfictional information about the 2024 Election on social media and routinely check facts when we receive a piece of information. Together we can create a positive digital space by fighting misleading information,” as concluded by Heroik M Pratama.
Writer: I Komang Restu Adi M. Surta
