Jakarta – The East Java police have reportedly taken down hundreds of social media accounts that mainly focus on spreading hoax. Police conducted the cyber patrol nearing the 2018 simultaneous regional elections.
"We have taken down 398 social media accounts responsible for spreading hoax information, hate, and issues regarding ethnicity, religious, racial and societal groups (SARA)," said the East Java Police Spokesman Comr. Frans Barung on Wednesday, January 17.
Despite only having taken down almost 400 of them, the East Java Police revealed that they constantly monitor 1,524 social media accounts that they deem prone to potentially spread negative contents during the 2018 simultaneous regional elections.
"These social media accounts were made specifically to spread issues regarding SARA, lies, and others," said Frans.
Cases heavily related to hate speech are expected to rise during the 2018 Regional Elections. According to Professor of Criminology Adrianus Meliala at the University of Indonesia said that hate speech has become a potent weapon to be used against a political opponent.
– Zara Amelia