Deputy Minister: Public Relations Must Become Information Clarification Hub in Digital Era

Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital (Wamenkomdigi) Nezar Patria has encouraged the Indonesian Public Relations Association (Perhumas) to position the public relations (PR) profession more strategically as a ‘clearing house of information’ amidst the growing threat of disinformation and misinformation in the digital communication landscape. According to Nezar, the torrent of information through digital platforms makes the public increasingly vulnerable to misleading information, giving the PR profession a crucial role in building public trust. ‘This is where I think Perhumas has a role to take a more strategic position, how to create a clearing house of information with PR work that is more adaptive to the rapidly developing technology of late,’ Nezar said while opening the Kick Off of the 2026 Indonesian PR Convention at the ANTARA Heritage Center, Jakarta, Saturday. He stated that the world has now entered a ‘post-truth’ era, a condition where objective facts have less influence in shaping public opinion, while society is more easily moved by sentiment than facts. ‘We have entered the post-truth era, and I think there has been plenty of discussion on this, and the role of PR becomes very important when there is so much noise in our communication landscape today, and also disinformation, misinformation, slander, and hate speech are so rampant, arriving through the devices we own,’ he said. Nezar cited the World Economic Forum’s conclusion, which places disinformation and misinformation as one of the main global risks. According to him, this assessment was compiled based on research involving many world leaders and industry players. ‘One of the most dangerous things according to the World Economic Forum, disinformation and misinformation are a global top risk as concluded by the World Economic Forum,’ he said. He added that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) has also changed the way the PR profession works. Referring to a 2025 One Asia Communication study, Deputy Minister Nezar revealed that PR practitioners in Asia, including Indonesia, are increasingly utilising AI for real-time public sentiment tracking, maintaining message consistency, and improving narrative quality. Nevertheless, Nezar asserted that the use of AI must remain within good governance by prioritising ethics. According to him, technology cannot completely replace the element of sincerity, which is an important part of human communication.