JAYAPURA - The Communication and Informatics Service of Papua Province appeals to the residents of Papua to be aware of all forms of information circulating on social media and other related matters, ahead of the upcoming November 27, 2024 Regional Elections.

According to the Head of the Papua Communication and Informatics Office, Jeri A. Yudianto, the rise of fake news (hoax) ahead of the implementation of the Regional Elections has the potential to cause conflicts between the community and between supporters of certain candidate pairs.

Therefore, he appealed to internet citizens (netizens) to be observant when receiving information or news related to political issues. This is important so that netizens are not easily consumed by false information or hoaxes ahead of the 2024 Regional Elections.

"Hoaxes are often packaged in content such as text, photos or videos. So, it takes the foresight of netizens in filtering information."

"Fake news or hoaxes also contain diction in the form of invitations and are forwarded many times. The point is that netizens must filter first before sharing," explained in Jayapura City, Monday (8/7/2024).

According to Jeri, there are at least three things that netizens need to anticipate, namely hoaxes to organizers, the government and election participants.

On the other hand, netizens in Papua also prefer news or information related to politics and Human Rights. Meanwhile, the most popular source of news is social media platforms. 

"There is a linear thing between people's habits and accessing news. Interest in political news and human rights dominates around 40 percent of other news issues," he said.

It is known that the internet penetration rate in Indonesia reaches 79.5 percent. Around 0.35 percent of it is contributed by Papua. 

The rapid penetration rate of the internet must be watched out for, especially since social media users have increased in the first quarter of 2024. ***