The Importance Of Hoax In Indonesia

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In the rise of the digital era, information finds its way to people seamlessly. Information, in the past often only available to those seeking for it, could now be retrieved effortlessly as they are shared by various people in the cyber world, mostly through social media. In this situation, the public needs to have the conscious to filter between legit news and hoax by themselves. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the word hoax refers to a plan to trick one into believing or accepting as genuine something false. It is likely that hoax rate may rise during certain situations in order to misguide the public and benefit specific party. Indonesia is no exception to it, with hoax numbers seeming to increase greatly during the election times. Unfortunately, Indonesians seem to have a blind trust in the information they come across to and the tendency to share it immediately without further thinking or research. This trait amplifies the hoax spreading in Indonesia greatly. By assessing the situation, this essay focuses on the rising hoax…show more content…
This habit is often not accompanied with the ability to differentiate between factual news and blatant lies, a direct result of the low literacy in Indonesia. Furthermore, Indonesians are particularly intrigued by news with controversial topics such as drama, violence, and sex (Mulyana, 2017). Although some hoax would go unnoticed, a few of the believable ones would come to the surface occasionally. As a result, a misguided public opinion is constructed within the people which could lead to an uproar if happens on a big scale. The most recent case in Indonesia is of Jakarta’s current governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, controversial alleged blasphemy speech. Following this, several stories from unverified sources has surfaced throughout the gubernatorial election campaign period, fueling the problem

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