Six Indonesian Provinces Most Vulnerable to Political Campaign Issues on Social Media; Jakarta Tops the List

The Indonesian Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has launched an election vulnerability index (IKP) related to issues of politically charged SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup relations) content, hoaxes, and hate speech on social media.

The index assessment was obtained by Bawaslu through quantitative research using supervisory data from the 2019 regional elections and general elections.

Bawaslu's Coordinator for the Division of Prevention, Public Participation, and Public Relations, Lolly Suhenty, stated that this vulnerability potential was found in six Indonesian provinces. Jakarta is the province most vulnerable to political campaigning on social media, with a score of 75 out of 100 points.

Lolly mentioned that the capital city consistently ranks among the top five in various thematic issues of election vulnerability, such as the neutrality of civil servants and the politicization of SARA.

"Jakarta is vulnerable in all dimensions of strategic election issues," said Lolly at the *Launching of Election and Voter Vulnerability Mapping throughout 2024: Strategic Campaign Issues on Social Media* event on Tuesday (31/10/2023).

North Maluku is ranked second, with a score of 36.11 points. This is followed by Bangka Belitung Islands with 34.03 points and West Java with 11.11 points.

Finally, South Kalimantan and Gorontalo both achieved scores of 0.69.

Lolly also explained that the social media platforms most frequently used for campaigning containing SARA content, hoaxes, and hate speech are Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.

Specifically for WhatsApp, she said, political campaigning is usually carried out through family groups or the closest communities.

The political campaign content on social media that is frequently encountered consists of photos, videos, and news links accompanied by intimidating narratives that appear threatening.

"The modus operandi is to gain greater support or sympathy, attack opponents, and delegitimize the election process or results," she explained.

Based on this, Lolly believes that campaigns containing SARA content, hoaxes, and hate speech on social media can cause polarization in society.