TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The spread of false or hoax news is indeed common on social media. However, the public should keep up with ethics while using social media to avoid a legal problem.

The acting director of informatics empowerment in the Communication and Informatics Ministry, Slamet Santoso, explained four ethics in using social media as follows.

1. Acknowledge the regulation

Slamet appealed to the public to recognize the existing regulation before using social media, which is the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law. “There are five articles noting social media ethics, Article 27 to 30,” said Slamet in a seminar regarding social media in Jakarta, on Wednesday, Oct. 18.

Read: Four Social Media Platforms Take Down Radical Accounts

2. Understand age limit for social media users

Several social media platform set the age limit for users, for example, 13 years of age for Facebook and Instagram, while 15 years of age for Twitter. “If you have underage brother/sister, educate them not to access social media because the content is not suitable for their age,” Slamet underlined.

3. Pay attention to your post

Social media users are expected to be smart in choosing personal matters to be posted. “Do not share personal things on social media,” he noted, explaining it can be harmful since the perpetrator can know user’s habit and activity through it.

4. Filter a post before sharing

The public should question the content of a post and confirm the fact before sharing it to others. “Let’s share information that makes us smart and productive in using the internet,” Slamet concluded.

ANTARA