Jakarta – The Jakarta General Elections Commissions (KPU Jakarta) has warned the public not to take every post on social media accounts at face value following the spread of pictures of so-called fake electronic identity cards (e-KTPs).
The fake e-KTPs bear the pictures of one person, but they have different ID numbers and names.
"We call on the public not to easily believe everything circulating on social media networks. Please do check and re-check," KPU Jakarta head Sumarno said in a press conference at the KPU Jakarta office in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday as quoted by Kompas.com.
"This [hoax] has something to do with security during the election. The posting about the e-KTP is a hoax. It's not true," he went on. Sumarno hoped the public could help maintain peace and security so the upcoming regional election on Feb. 15 runs smoothly.
As well as the posts on the fake e-KTP, there has also been a rumor saying that KPU Jakarta has prepared strategies to ensure victory for Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
KPU Jakarta said that it had reported the social media account that spread the fake news to the Jakarta Police for further investigation. (trw)