Kominfo Spots 2 Hoaxes about Surabaya Incident Involving Papuan

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) Ministry has identified two hoax contents related to the raid against Papuan university students in Surabaya, East Java.

“Hoaxes spread through social media and instant messaging,” said the ministry’s spokesman Ferdinandus Setu in a written statement in Jakarta, Monday, August 19.

The first hoax was about the photo of Papuan student claimed to have died after being attacked by law enforcers in Surabaya. The photo displayed a man fell on the floor with a caption saying “1 victim has died because of beaten by security officers, TNI/Polri. Papuan Student in Surabaya.”

Ferdinandus clarified that it was false information as quoted from the statement of the National Police Headquarter. In fact, the photo initially showed a traffic accident victim who died at the crime scene on Jalan Trikora, in front of TK Paud DOK V Atas, North Jayapura District. The incident occurred on February 19, 2019, at 07:30 East Indonesian Time (WIT).

The other false news was about Surabaya Police personnel that was said to have kidnapped two people delivering meals for Papuan students under siege. According to Ferdinandus, Surabaya Police official Adj. Sr. Comr. Asmoro denied the allegation.

“The police only conduct questioning and examining the two people,” he said.

Therefore, Kominfo Ministry called on the public to refrain from distributing hoax, disinformation, hate speech that based on SARA (racism) because such practices as those would endanger the unity and integrity of the Indonesian nation.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO