- 27/04/2021
- Category: Press Release
Google meet, April 16, 2021 – Research conducted by Microsoft regarding the Digital Civility Index (DCI) seems to be a pretty harsh slap for netizens in Indonesia. The research results in 32 countries with 16,000 respondents stated that Indonesian netizens were the most disrespectful netizens in Southeast Asia. Responding to this phenomenon, CfDS, in collaboration with DEMA FISHUM UIN Sunan Kalijaga, the Ministry of ICT and Siberkreasi held Difussion # 47 with the theme “the Downfall of Indonesian Netiquette and Whom to blame: Netizen or Policy,” with speakers Wicaksono or Ndoro Kakung as Social Media Practitioner and Fajar Cahyono as Research Associate CfDS.
The Etiquette of Indonesian Netizen: Whose Responsibility?
Starting his presentation, Fajar Cahyono explained the reason why Indonesia was ranked the lowest in Southeast Asia. Namely, there was an increase of 13 points for hoax and fraud information to 47% from the previous year, then for hate speech it rose 5 points to 27%, and discrimination fell 2 points to 13%. According to Fajar, this is caused by several factors: an imbalance of rules and law enforcement in Indonesia. Significant events such as regional elections, presidential elections, and pandemic events also play an essential role in increasing violations in the digital space, creating room for propaganda, hoaxes, discrimination, and hate speech. Things related to propaganda in Indonesia have also been proven from the findings of Oxford Internet Institute research related to Computational Propaganda which states that in Indonesia, the state or government has also been involved in Computational Propaganda. Besides, the strengthening of identity due to bubble filters or digital algorithms is also considered by Fajar to influence the research results. Increasing digital literacy through school programs and even national programs is the way to overcome this, according to Fajar. “Today, we have the latest challenge, namely the new world of the digital. When there is something new, it also needs adaptation, introduction, and it even needs to be wrong. The state as the law enforcer needs to resolve regulatory issues immediately. Moreover, we as individuals also have a responsibility to help solve digital literacy problems through social movements or applying it to ourselves,” Fajar concluded.
The Importance of Digital Literacy and Ethics in Social Media
Ndoro Kakung thinks that Indonesian netizens are often unaware that there is something “real” in a world called virtual. According to Ndoro Kakung, the digital world is a real world that feels unreal where individuals assume they can do everything without being watched, even though the cyber police can abruptly arrest and imprison those individuals. Therefore, digital literacy is indispensable for Indonesian netizens to be more civilized than the intended output from Microsoft’s research. Digital literacy is not just an understanding of how Indonesians use the internet as a tool. Moreover, four things have become the road map for digital literacy in Indonesia, namely digital etiquette, digital skills, digital culture, and digital safety. Closing his presentation, Ndoro Kakung advised, “always remember that we live in society both in the real world and in the virtual world, because there are other people there, do good in socializing and do not hurt others. We also need to sort out the positives and negatives. Be wise in social media. “
Writer: Firya Qurratu’ain A.
Editor: Ruth Tarullyna Simanjuntak
