Combating Disinformation Can No Longer Be Solely the User's Burden
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Mediodecci Lustarini, Secretary of the Directorate General of Digital Space Supervision at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi), stated that the burden of tackling disinformation amidst increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) can no longer be placed solely on the public as users.
According to her, disinformation has become a shared challenge for users, the government, and especially digital platforms. This is because digital platforms not only provide spaces for sharing content but also deploy AI algorithms that create echo chambers within the digital space from existing content, and even monetise it.
Therefore, the government is currently not only focusing on providing digital literacy to combat disinformation and regulating the digital space, but also emphasising legal certainty that places responsibility on the digital platforms.
Complementing this view, Novi Kurnia, a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said it is unfair if users of digital services are continuously burdened with the need to be digitally savvy.
“The government must regulate better, and digital platforms must create or moderate content more skilfully. So, not everything is burdened onto the users. This is the problem we are facing now,” said Novi.
As someone who is also active in digital literacy activities such as SIBERKREASI, Novi said that in regulating disinformation cases, the government can adopt a more adaptive approach that suits the needs of the public.
Adding to the views of the two panellists, Hardijanto Saroso, a member of the Board of Professions and Associations of the Indonesian Telematics Society (MASTEL), added that if the handling of disinformation is to be more optimal, then it is not only digital literacy that must be strengthened, but also information literacy.
According to him, information literacy is important to ensure that the public, especially the younger generation, are not only capable of using digital technology but also able to understand and filter the information conveyed through that digital medium.
“Digital literacy has now shifted, it has gone up a level because many of our younger generation have been using digital technology since the beginning of their lives. But then, how we can educate everyone to use it correctly, that is what is meant by information literacy,” said Hardijanto.