Nezar: Policy Success Determined by Quality of Communication
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs (Wamenkomdigi) Nezar Patria has asserted that the success of government policy is determined not only by the quality of its substance, but also by effective communication and public trust.
According to him, changes in the digital communication landscape require the government to build adaptive communication so that every policy can be understood and accepted by the public.
“What we are competing for is trust, public trust. This is the problem in our policy communication today. If it could be formulated, policy success is a formulation of the quality of the policy itself, communication practice, plus public trust,” Nezar said in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to him, if any one of these elements is weak, the success of policy communication will face challenges. He stressed that a good policy does not automatically become a trusted policy.
Nezar said changes in people’s behaviour in accessing information mean the government is no longer the sole source of information.
This situation demands that policy communication be able to compete with the various narratives circulating in the digital space, as people can now access, produce and disseminate information through various digital platforms.
“Now information sources are dispersed. People don’t need to wait for the media to get information. They don’t need to wait for press officers to write a press release. As soon as an event occurs, they immediately look for various information sources that have social media accounts or accessible sites,” Nezar said.
He added that people also create their own content and upload it to social media. Sometimes the versions produced by content creators compete with official government information.
According to Nezar, the challenge of government communication has grown more complex because social media algorithms tend to shape perceptions based on sentiment rather than facts.
This condition has triggered polarisation, echo chambers and post-truth phenomena that influence how people interpret a policy.
“Algorithms work based on what we like and dislike. What matters is not the facts, but the sentiment. From sentiment, perception is then formed. It is this perception that frames the way we view problems and interpret reality,” Nezar explained.
Therefore, Nezar stressed that government communication must prioritise approaches that are fast, empathetic, open and dialogue-based in order to rebuild public trust amid the dynamics of the digital space.
In addition to strengthening the communication approach, Nezar considers the use of technology necessary to read the dynamics of the digital space quickly and accurately.
According to him, social listening, sentiment analysis and early-warning systems can help the government anticipate potential communication crises, including the spread of AI-based deepfake content.
Nezar said various countries have placed public trust as the foundation of government communication.
According to him, policy communication practices in several countries such as the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Estonia can serve as lessons for strengthening public communication that is more adaptive, participatory and oriented towards people’s needs.
Nezar affirmed that information integrity is the primary foundation in building public trust. According to him, government public relations has a strategic role as a translator of policy as well as a bridge between the state and the public.
“Public trust can only be earned if we are honest with data. Never lie. It is better not to answer than to provide wrong information, because that will destroy trust,” he said.