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Social media starting to influence public policy: Survey
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Digitroops CEO Fahd Pahdepie (right) explains a survey about the most popular issues online this year in Central Jakarta on Dec. 22. (JP/Safrin La Batu)
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s the number of internet users in the country had grown significantly in recent years, social media now had begun to impact public life, including policy making, thus its role could no longer be put aside, a survey revealed on Thursday.
Online consulting firm Digitroops revealed in its survey that some of the country’s policies were, in fact, born out of pressure asserted by social media users.
"The social media realm is no longer a separate world because it has affected our policy making," Digitroops CEO Fahd Pahdepie said during a presentation of the survey's findings in Central Jakarta.
Fahd said, for example, the tax amnesty, which was aimed at boosting tax revenue by offering a lenient "rate of redemption" for unpaid taxes from individuals and companies, had been implemented after social media users had been fervently discussing the large amounts of money many Indonesians had been keeping abroad to avoid paying tax.
Such financial information was leaked by the Panama Papers early this year, which immediately triggered discussions online, he added.
The survey, which was held from January to Dec. 15, said the Panama Paper had become the third most popular topic discussed online this year.
The survey also noted that the blasphemy case implicating Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, which had also been extensively discussed on social media, had influenced the nation’s politics.
