Concerns over use of ‘influencers’
Activists: Celebs promoting govt policies could sway public opinion on vital issues
ANTI-GRAFT and human rights activists have raised concerns over the government’s use of social media “influencers” to promote its policies, demanding transparency over the partnership amid fears that it could be misused to sway public opinion on problematic issues.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Egi Primayogha said ministries and state institutions under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration often involved the so-called influencers for governmental purposes, including to promote programmes and public policies.
The latest research by ICW – conducted by compiling publicly available data – found that the government had spent at least 90.4 billion rupiah (RM25.4mil) on goods and services procurement containing the keywords “influencers” and “key opinion leaders” from 2017 until this year.
Although involving influencers to promote public policies was not wrong, Egi argued that the government appeared to make use of them with intention to cover up problems related to certain policies.
“The information conveyed by influencers is not always valid. Sometimes they even spread misinformation,” Egi said in a discussion on Thursday.
One notable case occurred in late February when the government announced it had allocated 72 billion rupiah (RM20.3mil) to pay influencers to promote the country’s tourism in an effort to shield the industry from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which at that time had yet to be detected in Indonesia.
The move was met with criticism, since at a time when countries around the world were scrambling to mitigate the virus, the Indonesian government seemed to downplay the threat of the pandemic and send out the message to welcome tourists from around the world instead.
Last week, a number of influencers and Internet personalities also came under fire for posting content supporting the controversial job creation Bill using the hashtag #IndonesiaButuhKerja (Indonesia Needs Jobs).
Some of them claimed they did not know that the campaign – which was reportedly offered to them in return for payment – actually championed the Bill.
Many, including protesters against the Bill, criticised the celebrities, accusing them of lacking knowledge about how the Bill – if passed – could heavily affect workers’ rights.
Egi of ICW went on to say that the use of influencers suggested that Jokowi was not confident in his own policies, adding that it could create a trend in which the government uses internet personalities to sway public opinion on controversial policies being deliberated.
“This is unhealthy in a democracy because it has the potential to blur the substantial points of certain policies,” Egi said.
He urged the government to be more transparent with regard to the amount of state funds they spend on influencers and how they use it, adding that the government should also disclose how they determine which social media personalities to hire. — The Jakarta Post/ANN