Heaptalk, Jakarta – The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) has handled around 1.615 contents regarding hoax content circulating on the internet and other digital platforms throughout 2023. The total of said contents since August 2018 has reached 12.547 issues and Kominfo has tried to handle it ever since.
According to Kominfo’s data, the number of hoax issues in 2023 which were handled by the AIS Team, Kominfo’s Directorate General of Information Applications grows significantly compared to 2022 for 1.528 issues.
Based on the category, until December 2023, the most widely rumored issues are related to the health sectors. Kominfo’s AIS Team found 2.357 news under the health category. News about Covid-19 virus spread is still dominating said category. Moreover, there has been misleading information related to medicines and health products.
Hoax issues related to the government policy and fraud also recorded as the second most frequently found. Collectively, since August 2018, Kominfo found 2.210 issues for each category regarding the government and fraud.
Moreover, most hoax issues are referring to fake accounts of central government officials and local government officials and institutions. In addition, there has been faux and misleading information regarding recruitment for private and government institutions, phishing links, cellphone or media social scam, to distribution of social assistance involving by asking personal data or a certain amount of money.
Meanwhile the third most found hoax issues placed under the politic category. Kominfo identified that there had been 1.628 issues since August 2018. This content is dominated by information related to political parties, candidates, and also the election process.
AIS team was founded in January 2018 to initiate scavenging, identification verification and validation for all content that is against regulations. The AIS team is specifically supported by an AIS machine that works continuously for 24 hours per week. Particularly, this team has handled hoax issues and written reports regularly since August 2018.
Kominfo has cut access to contents that are speculated as hoaxes. This effort is undertaken to prevent the widespread dissemination of hoax content and to guide public perception. The ministry also appeals to the public to be wise and aware of the circulation of hoax contents and to prevent the spread of the contents filled with hoax through any kind of platforms.
Editorial team: Wulan Dari, Prazna Alyfia Ghefira
