PWI: Press has strategic role in combating illegal online loans

The online lending industry actually has great potential to expand access to financing, especially for communities and MSMEs not yet reached by conventional financial services. However, the rampant activity of illegal online loans poses a challenge that must be addressed because of its potential to harm the public. According to Munir, victims of illegal online loans often face unethical collection practices, intimidation, terror, misuse of personal data, and digital fraud. ‘This is what we must echo so that the public truly understands. Because in the rampant illegal online lending, it is the public who become victims,’ he said. He expressed hope that journalists would use the workshop to deepen their understanding of the lending industry, enabling them to produce accurate reporting while improving public financial literacy. Munir added that PWI, together with the Indonesian Fintech Lending Association (AFPI), is committed to promoting public education through journalistic work so that people understand the difference between licensed lenders and illegal loan sharks. ‘Therefore, together with AFPI, we encourage everyone to provide literacy to the public, to educate the public through journalists,’ Munir said. AFPI collaborated with PWI to hold a Journalism Workshop themed ‘Pindar for Financial Inclusion, Journalism for Public Protection’.