Journalist Arrested as MBG Hoax Spreads Widely
Founder of Big Data analytics firm Evello, Dudy Rudianto, warned of an effort to disseminate content that is massively false about the Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) programme. The content, which contains falsehoods and disinformation, claims that a journalist from CNN Indonesia named Valencia has exposed the mastermind behind MBG poisoning. As a result of these actions, she is being held by police.
“The content also includes sensational narratives such as Valencia’s reckless act to expose the nation’s shame,” Dudy said on Friday (6 March).
According to Evello data, the spread of this hoax content is dominant on Meta platforms, notably Facebook and Instagram, compared with platforms such as X and TikTok.
“The reach and engagement of these hoaxes on Facebook peaked at 31,889 total engagements, with 2,344 shares and 8,478 conversations,” Dudy elaborated. Meanwhile, interactions on Instagram reached 7,080 conversations with 29,393 likes.
Beyond counts, Evello conducted in-depth analysis to examine the psychological profiles formed by the spread and engagement of the hoaxes. The study found that 50% of conversations point to a crisis of trust in the judiciary and government, with those involved characterised by aggressive sentiments born of anger and anticipation. A further 30% of conversations focus on perceived failure and corruption in MBG programmes, while 20% are highly political, driven by electoral remorse narratives.
From this analysis, Evello concluded that the hoax is being propelled by politically active groups seeking to foment broader hostility.
However, Meta, the platform owner, has not taken moderation steps to curb the content, allowing it to be uploaded almost simultaneously. According to Dudy, similar issues on X were moderated by Grok four times and consistently labelled as hoaxes. “The spread and engagement of this content on X are not large, because X’s AI moderates these posts as DFK content,” Dudy added.
Political analyst Ujang Komarudin described the swift response by the Cabinet Secretariat’s spokesperson Letkol Teddy Indra Wijaya in addressing hoaxes and disinformation as essential to maintaining public trust.
Regulation: The 2024 Information and Electronic Transactions Law (UU ITE 2024) does not remove criminal sanctions for hoax dissemination and hate speech; the new regulation clarifies the boundaries of digital misinformation.