Fake news threatens quality of politics, says Susilo

KUALA LUMPUR: Fake news threatens the quality of politics in a country because it erodes public trust in both the media and politicians, said former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

While fake information was always present in the realm of politics, he said, it had never been delivered at such scale, scope and speed before the advent of social media.

“There’s a serious need to consider the impact of fake news to politics. It could reduce the quality of politics, and the public’s belief in their politicians and media,” he said, while delivering the keynote speech at the Democracy in Southeast Asia Conference.

The two-day conference jointly organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Kofi Annan Foundation was meant to evaluate the growth of democracy in the region and compare challenges and best practices.

Susilo said a stable democracy required the right balance between effective governance and freedom of expression.

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) secretary-general Yves Leterm said social media allowed the public, particularly the young, to have their voices heard and had transformed public engagement in politics.

He said Asia was leading the way with a higher share of Internet users and social media penetration, at 47% usage compared to the world average of 37%.

“It led to democratic innovations where e- participation and crowd-sourcing is increasingly used not only by civil society, but governments and political parties,” said Leterm, who was Belgium’s former prime minister.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low said the emergence of social media required more responsible journalism to articulate the truth along with a more discerning public.

“Social media made everyone a journalist and millions of people can express whatever they believe in.

“But in politics not everyone is discerning enough,” he said during a press conference after delivering his speech.

He said the nature of political debate in media had changed to take advantage of this.

“Politicians and bloggers, in fighting for the attention of voters, won’t just stop at speaking about their platform but also condemn and defame their opponents,” he said.