Haeril Halim and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Tanjung Balai – While social media has been influential in effecting positive changes in society, it can have the opposite effect, as witnessed by the communal strife in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, which resulted in the torching of several Buddhist temples over the weekend.
Messages, circulating on the Facebook and WhatsApp messaging services, played a key role in inciting some Muslims in the area to take action against members of the local ethnic Chinese community following an incident involving a member of the Chinese-Indonesian community complaining about the volume of the adzan (call to prayer) at a local mosque.
The rioting led to the destruction of 10 Buddhist temples on Friday and Saturday.
Following the circulation of the messages, which incited Muslims to take action against those insulting Islam, a number of unidentified individuals made speeches that inflamed rioting in a city that had been free of sectarian clashes for decades.
The National Police are currently investigating the individuals behind the incitement and are expected to press charges for hate speech.
A local resident who claimed to have witnessed the incitement, Zulham Efendi, said the social media messages began making the rounds after members of the congregation of Al-Maksum Mosque in the neighborhood attacked the home of Meliana, the individual who had complained about the volume of the adzan.
Soon after the crowd gathered around her home, Zulham said that some of his friends received texts on their cellphones and had their Facebook pages bombarded with hate-filled messages.
"My friends showed to me the viral messages. They called on people to unite because their religion had been insulted," Zulham told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The mob attempted to torch Meliana's house but were prevented from doing so by neighbors and local residents. As the mob began to leave some in the crowd turned on a Buddhist temple near Meliana's house on Jl. Juanda, where a number of unidentified individuals could be seen making speeches.
"I have lived in Tanjung Balai for a long time but I don't know who these people are. It's likely that they are students," said Zulham.
No fatalities were reported in the rioting, but billions of rupiah in damage was caused to property.
Local police in Tanjung Balai, a coastal town in the eastern part of North Sumatra, said they were in control of the situation and named seven people suspects in the incident.
North Sumatra Police spokeswoman Comr. Rina Sari Ginting said residents had been enraged by Meliana's repeated complaints about the noise from Al-Maksum Mosque.
The police have evacuated Meliana from the neighborhood and moved her to a safe house. "Mobs threw stones and burned temples. This is the root of the chaotic situation," Rina said.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, who traveled to Tanjung Balai on Saturday, warned that he would charge any individuals responsible for spreading hate-filled messages on social media.
Tito said the police would closely work with the Communications and Information Ministry to step up surveillance of social media in the country in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the Tanjung Balai riot.
He said that the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law could be used against those who used their social media platforms in a way that threatened public order.
"Do not distribute negative information that could incite people. Distributing hate speech is punishable under the ITE law," Tito warned.
[Margareth S. Aritonang contributed to this report from Jakarta.]
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/01/social-media-blamed-rioting-north-sumatra.html