2 Google and YouTube strategies in Indonesia to eliminate the wave of misinformation related to the 2024 elections

TIME.CO, Jakarta – Brand marketing manager Google Indonesia, Muriel Makarim expressed Google and YouTube Indonesia’s strong commitment to eradicating disinformation during the upcoming 2024 general elections.

Misinformation, according to Muriel, is a complex problem. The emergence of misinformation is a plague in society, especially in political years. According to data collected by the Ministry of Communications and Information, 60% of Indonesians admit to having received disinformation.

During the election process, Google and YouTube Indonesia realized that it was important for the Indonesian people to make mature decisions. However, mature decisions must be based on credible and reliable information.

“Although we have made every effort to maintain user safety, there will always be irresponsible perpetrators. Therefore, we believe it is very important to prepare voters to fight misinformation,” he said at the #YukUnderstandPemilu event organized by Google and YouTube Indonesia. at Chubb Square, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

Google and YouTube Indonesia have 2 strategies to reduce the risk of misinformation in society. First, educate users to recognize and evaluate misinformation. In this case, Google and YouTube Indonesia are trying to help voters identify the character of misinformation.

“We are partnering with Jigsaw, a unit of Google whose goal is to conduct research to address misinformation with methods prebunkingMuriel said. Prebunking it is a method that educates users about disinformation tactics. This method, Muriel continued, has been tested in several countries.

Based on research conducted in Indonesia, it was found that there were 3 tactics that were most popular or widely used in elections. First of all, the damage to reputation. Usually, content is created specifically to defame someone or lower someone’s reputation.

The second tactic is image or video manipulation. Usually, it contains content that uses deliberately edited and added images or videos title which is misleading.

Third, there are emotional fishing tactics. “This tactic usually has the characteristic of using excessive words to provoke emotions such as sadness, fear, anger or, if it is a video, an additional dramatizing song is added,” she said.

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Announcement

Double check before you check

At this time, Google and YouTube Indonesia have launched a campaign to educate the public through the slang “Recheck before Gosh”. This campaign is the result of collaboration with multiple partners, namely the General Election Commission (KPU), Election Supervision Agency (Bawaslu), CekFakta, Safer Internet Lab and other partners.

The second strategy carried out by Google and YouTube Indonesia is to provide voters with the information they receive. Various videos are available through the “Pause First” campaign on YouTube sharing that invites users to do something break or pause the video you are watching and understand the context behind it.

“So, find out whether the source of the content is credible or not. We break first, let’s first think about whether this is credible or not, it’s up to us share to everyone,” he said.

Google and YouTube Indonesia also provide training for vulnerable groups in digital media literacy skills. However it is not easy to reach if you walk alone. As a solution, they provided a grant worth $2.5 million to the Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society (Mafindo). Mafindo is a civil society organization concerned with eradicating negative information content or hoax news.

“This is an initiative to share their arguments aimed at improving and equipping vulnerable groups in society, including young adult and the elderly,” Muriel said.

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