Hoax Dissemination Remains High, Public Urged to Verify Before Sharing Information

The spread of false information, or hoaxes, targeting state institutions remains a challenge in the digital space.

The public is urged to carefully verify every piece of information circulating on social media so as not to be easily influenced by unproven narratives.

Data from the Directorate General of Digital Space Supervision at the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Communications (Komdigi) shows 1,674 hoax contents identified between 22 October 2024 and 20 October 2025.

Of this total, fraud was the largest category with 589 hoaxes, followed by governance with 341, miscellaneous with 249, politics with 166, health with 87, disasters with 68, international affairs with 49, crime with 42, defamation with 41, trade with 25, religion with eight, and education with five.

Recently, several pieces of information claimed to relate to state institutions have circulated widely on social media. These include a narrative saying the DPR rejected deliberation of the Asset Forfeiture Bill (RUU Perampasan Aset) and a claim naming the Indonesian National Police (Polri) as the most corrupt institution in Southeast Asia.

Regarding the Asset Forfeiture Bill issue, Deputy Speaker of the DPR RI Sari Yuliati has clarified that the news is untrue, affirming that the DPR never rejected deliberation of the bill.

Meanwhile, the claim about Polri being the most corrupt institution in Southeast Asia has also drawn scrutiny from academics. Ayip Tayana, Executive Director of Indeks Data Nasional, judged that the conclusion presented by the international survey agency IndexMundi was not supported by adequate research methodology.

According to Ayip, the sample sizes across countries were not proportional, potentially skewing the survey results.

“They did not conduct random, proportional sampling according to each country. I saw Indonesia’s sample was around 290, the Philippines over 900, and Thailand only about 100 or so,” he said, quoted on Sunday, 26 July 2026.

He also assessed that the survey was conducted online without a strict respondent validation mechanism, which could introduce bias in both the sampling and the results.

“The data is weak, the methodology cannot be accounted for, and then the results suddenly convict an institution based on that flawed data. In my view, that is not credible,” he said.