INDONESIA POLLS FUEL FAKE NEWS

‘Hoax busters’ struggle to stem misinformation that threatens to sway millions of voters

ASMALL army of “hoax busters” in Indonesia is trying to hold the line against a swarm of fake news that threatens to sway millions of voters as the world’s third-biggest democracy heads to the polls.

While many countries fret

about the explosion of online falsehoods, observers say Indonesia’s enormous social media audience — and low levels of digital literacy — make its April 17 polls particularly vulnerable.

A whopping 130 million people — about half the population — spend an average of over three hours daily on social media, one of the highest rates globally.

Analysts say much of what they are reading about the 245,000 candidates, who are standing for everything from the presidency to local legislative seats, is untrue.

The online battle is particularly fierce over the reputations of President Joko Widodo, who is running for reelection, and his challenger Prabowo Subianto.

Both are hit daily with false reports and doctored headlines circulated by fans, detractors and for-hire fake news fabricators known as buzzers.

“What scares me is when hoaxes are mixed with hate speech because they often use false information to spread animosity along ethnic, racial and religious lines,” said Ferdinandus Setu, a spokesman for the Communication and Information Ministry.

The ministry created an 80 person, around-the-clock factchecking team to debunk hoaxes and other fake news, with officials announcing the results at regular press briefings.

Joining the offensive are hundreds of volunteers at the nongovernmental organisation Mafindo, which is among two dozen organisations that belong to a unique digital verification coalition called CekFakta — linked to Indonesia’s top news outlets.

Despite the huge volume of fake news, pollsters say that among committed supporters of either presidential candidate, false stories make little difference either way in terms of their voting choice.

The real target — and the places the hoaxes can make a difference — is the undecided voters which are estimated to number as much as 15 per cent of the huge electorate and maybe enough to tip the balance.