TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Election watchdog Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) assessed false information or hoax could delegitimize an election considering it would encourage the public to choose a candidate based on wrong information.

“If voters make a choice based on unfair information, thus the freedom of choice is manipulated by false information,” said Perludem head Titi Anggraini in Cikini, Jakarta, Saturday, September 22.

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Titi explained the election principle is freedom, honesty, and fair which are related to the public freedom to vote. The freedom to take a ballot could be obtained as long as the public received the right information.

“The freedom of choice must in line with the reception of fair and correct information,” she underlined.

Titi gave an example of the freedom of choice issue that affected the legitimacy of the election in the United States. She said the legitimacy of Donald Trump's victory was suspected because of the alleged involvement of Cambridge Analityca that stole Facebook user’s data for the sake of the campaign. “The election is still questioned up until now,” she added.

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However, Titi saw the trend of hoax spread and hate speech on social media ahead of the 2019 election declined, compared to the previous election in 2014 when hoax spreading occurred even long before the election was held. She further appreciated both coalitions of Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto who are determined to develop Indonesia.

M ROSSENO AJI