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Election watchdog partners with 25 universities to combat smear campaigns
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Tackling fraud: Central Sulawesi Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) chairwoman Ratna Dewi Petalolo (center), accompanied by two Bawaslu commissioners, Asrifai (right) and Zaidul Mokoagouw (left), leads a hearing on the Buol regency election dispute case at the agency’s office in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Jan.12. (Antara/Fiqman Sunandar)
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akarta Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) commissioner Muhammad Jufri has said the agency has collaborated with students from 25 universities to monitor hoaxes and false information circulating on social media during the Jakarta gubernatorial election campaign period.
The move was taken as part of Bawaslu’s efforts to combat smear campaigns, he further said.
“We are not simply waiting for reports [of smear campaigns by candidates] to happen. We are actively monitoring developments on the ground,” Jufri told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Wednesday.
(Read also: Election watchdog ready to investigate biased pollsters)
Smear campaigns have reportedly been running rampant less than a month before the Jakarta election on Feb. 15.
Among the 25 universities involved in the monitoring activities include 17 Agustus University, Jayabaya University and Ibnu Khaldun University. The students in those universities are assigned to closely watch for hoaxes or false information on social media and then report their findings to Bawaslu, which will follow them up.
Jufri said, so far, Bawaslu had not yet found enough evidence to prove that smear campaigns were occurring. “We should have enough evidence before we can say that it is really happening,” he said.
The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) revealed in its survey on Tuesday that candidates running in the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election had fallen victim to smear campaigns. The survey reported that the electability of candidate Anies Baswedan had been diminished by rumors that he was a Shia and liberal Muslim. (ebf)
