TEMPO.CO, Pangkalpinang - Bangka Belitung (Babel) Islands Police Criminal Investigation Unit has been investigating into Facebook accounts’ owners over hate speech against gubernatorial candidates for the 2017 Bangka Belitung election.
Bangka Belitung Islands Police Cybercrime Subdirectorate chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dolly Gumara said he has monitored some Facebook accounts that contain hate speech. “They have been warned,” he told Tempo Wednesday.
According to Dolly, the owners of Facebook accounts who spread hate speech have been asked to stop and delete their posts which discredited gubernatorial candidates. “If they ignore it, we will investigate further and prosecute [them],” he said.
Dolly explained that investigation into individuals who posted hate speech on social media is based on the National Police chief instruction that Regional Police must conduct cyber patrol on social media. “We will also educate the public and netizens who support the candidates,” he said.
He said that no official report has been made over hate speech claim. However, police will continue to monitor the situation. Some Facebook accounts have been deactivated by the owner themselves after police gave them warning.
Dolly warned that owners of social media accounts who spread hate speech will be sentenced to 8 years in jail and Rp1 billion fine under Law No. 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transaction.
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