MCI Invites ASEAN Delegates to Observe AIS

Jakarta, InfoPublik – Participants of the ASEAN Workshop on Guideline on Management of Government Information in Combating Fake News and Disinformation in the Media were invited to directly observe the crawling machine of negative contents called AIS at the office of the Minister of Communications and Informatics (MCI) in Jakarta.

“Later, we will take the participants (ASEAN delegates) to the MCI office. We will explain about AIS to see the experience of Indonesia to identify political hoaxes,” said the MCI’s Director General of Public Information and Communications, Usman Kansong, in a press conference related to the ASEAN Workshop on Guideline on Management of Government Information in Combating Fake News and Disinformation in the Media at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, on Thursday (Mar. 2).

According to Usman Kansong, digital space surveillance is part of the MCI’s three strategies to manage fake news or hoaxes and disinformation ahead of the 2024 General Elections.

Those three strategies are downstream, midstream, and upstream strategies. The downstream strategy is in the form of preventive education through digital literacy. The midstream strategy includes corrective actions in three mechanisms, AIS machine, hoax patrol by officers for 24 hours, and public reports, along with counter-narrative. The upstream strategy is in the form of law enforcement by cooperating with the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), the General Elections Commission, and the National Police.

“It is not in the domain of the MCI to take action against law violations. That is the realm of Bawaslu, the National Police, and the Attorney General’s Office. There is also Gakkumdu (Integrated Law Enforcement) during the General Elections. However, the MCI is responsible for monitoring contents (related to General Elections) in social media,” Usman Kansong said.

Aside from implementing the three strategies, the ministry also shared experiences on hoaxes and disinformation management related to the General Elections with ASEAN countries.

Therefore, Usman Kansong said that the ministry can also learn to be more effective in tackling political hoaxes in social media from the experiences of ASEAN countries.

“Everyone will share experiences in managing political hoaxes or disinformation. Thailand has its own experiences; Myanmar has its experiences. Indonesia has those strategies. Hence, we invite (ASEAN delegates) to the MCI later to observe the mechanism of digital space surveillance,” Usman said.

Usman Kansong gave Malaysia as an example, which has regulations that require moderators or administrators to be responsible when there are hoaxes and disinformation because they are deemed to allow the violations to take place.

The regulation in Malaysia can be seen as a lesson for Indonesia because the MCI does not have the authority to regulate private apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, MiChat, and so on.

“I think that Malaysia maybe has a mechanism that we can consider. We cannot monitor private apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, MiChat, and so on because the MCI is not allowed to reach them,” Usman Kansong said.

Photo: Amiri Yandi/InfoPublik
Writer: Wahyu Sudoyo
Editor: Untung Sutomo
Translator: Wisnu Wardoyo