Hate Speech Cases Expected to Rise During 2018 Regional Election

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) is set to increase its cyber patrol activities to anticipate the spread of negative online contents such as hate speech during the upcoming 2018 Regional Head Election.

Bareskrim’s Director of Cyber Crime Brigadier General Fadil Imran said that hate speeches always emerge during major political events, “Especially since the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election. Cyber-crime corresponds with security agendas and national order, elections, and other political matters which gets repackaged and harvested in social media,” said Fadil on Tuesday, October 17.

Read: Hate Speech Group Saracen Has 800,000 Social Media Accounts

He revealed that cases involving the spread of social media hate speech have drastically increased during the Jakarta Gubernatorial election in February, especially in the second phase of the election. At the time, police’s cyber team detected a minimum of 117 cases which led to the reveal of a hate-spreader group called Saracen.

“Following the arrest [of Saracen], the number was able to be suppressed to just 48 cases,” said Fadil Imran.

Despite the declining cases of hate speech, Fadil said that the arrest of hoax spreaders and suspects of persecutions is not able to present a deterrent effect. He also presumes that their actions are not only driven by ideological reasons but also by other significant interests. The simultaneous regional head election will be held on June 27, 2018, throughout 171 provinces that will participate in 17 gubernatorial election, 39 elections for the position of Mayor, and 115 regions will vote for a regent.

ARKHELAUS W. | AGOENG WIJAYA