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

The dissemination of false information or hoaxes remains a challenge in the digital space. The public is urged to be more careful in verifying every piece of information circulating on social media so as not to be easily influenced by unverified narratives. Data from the Directorate General of Digital Space Supervision at the Ministry of Digital and Communication shows that 1,674 hoax contents were found between 22 October 2024 and 20 October 2025. Of this number, fraud was the most common category with 589 hoaxes, followed by government-related hoaxes at 341, miscellaneous at 249, politics at 166, health at 87, disasters at 68, international at 49, crime at 42, defamation at 41, trade at 25, religion at eight, and education at five. Recently, a number of pieces of information claiming to be related to state institutions have also circulated widely on social media. Among them is a narrative claiming the House of Representatives rejected the discussion of the Asset Forfeiture Bill, as well as a claim that the Indonesian National Police is the most corrupt institution in Southeast Asia. Regarding the Asset Forfeiture Bill issue, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sari Yuliati has clarified that the news is untrue. She stressed that the House of Representatives never rejected the discussion of the bill. Meanwhile, the claim about the police has drawn attention from academics. Executive Director of the National Data Index, Ayip Tayana, assessed that the conclusion presented by the international survey institution IndexMundi was not supported by adequate research methodology. He noted that the number of samples between countries was disproportionate, which could affect the survey results. He also stated that the survey was conducted online without a strict respondent validation mechanism, a condition that could potentially introduce bias in both the sampling and the results.