The 2020 Regional Head Election (PILKADA) will be held amid the pandemic situation. This situation is predicted to lead to a change in the campaign climate and provide more significant space for interest groups to utilize digital technology in the political contestation process.
“What is unique about this year is that Covid-19 has hit the whole world. “It will certainly change the climate for the way campaigns take place on the field,” said Head of Public Policy for Facebook Indonesia, Ruben Hattari, in a Public Discussion entitled “Regional Head Election and Digital Campaign in the Middle of a Pandemic,” held on Friday (28/8).
He revealed that the campaign in digital format is an essential topic in the 2020 Regional Head Election. According to him, the candidates will use social media platforms to convey their vision and mission.
With a penetration rate of up to 130 million people, Facebook is the largest social media platform in Indonesia which is also a means for people to voice opinions, including in the political field.
Facebook itself, he explained, made the issue of political elections one of the critical pillars in its service to the community and took the initiative to present various features to maintain the integrity of political contestation and elections in the realm of social media.
One of the features prepared is the transparency feature of political advertising, which was launched in the United States several years ago, and is starting to be implemented in Indonesia ahead of the upcoming election.
“Users who see advertisements marked as political advertisements can further know who the ad is from and how much it has spent,” Ruben explained.
Political campaigns in the digital platform have become an integral part of political contestation in Indonesia, one of which was in the 2019 elections. Social media as a dialectic space had succeeded in increasing election voter turnout by 80.9 percent, exceeding the initial target of only 77.5 percent.
However, the use of digital technology in political contestation creates its challenges, one of which is related to the spread of hoaxes / fake news. Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics shows that there had been an increase in the spread of hoaxes from August 2018 to April 2019, especially on issues that contained political content.
This online discussion was organized by the Center for Digital Society (CfDS) UGM in collaboration with Facebook Indonesia and Perludem to support the running of democracy in the 2020 Regional Head Election.
Initiatives like this, said Ruben, is expected to be one of the steps to support the positive use of digital technology in the democratic process.
“Together, we ensure that the 2020 Regional Head Election is supported by an accurate and progressive regulatory framework and educational programs that add insight to the public about our democratic process,” he said.
KPU commissioner, I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi, revealed that the KPU is also preparing several policy mechanisms that regulate the campaign process through online media, one of which is related to political advertising.
The election participants, he explained, were also encouraged to create new social media accounts that would be used for campaigning, which are then reported to the KPU.
“This account can be used during the campaign period. After the campaign ends, the account is not closed, but the content is deleted. So, it can be traced whether there are any traces of campaigns that violate the provisions,” he explained.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/19975-pandemi-covid-19-ubah-iklim-kampanye-jelang-pilkada-2020
