T

he race for the Jakarta gubernatorial seat is undoubtedly the fiercest regional election the capital has ever seen, with the battle having been taken to the digital sphere.

Incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has intensified his online campaign with the launch of a talk show that can be accessed on social media, while Anies Baswedan keeps his supporters updated on his daily activities by regularly sharing his schedule on social media as well.

However, as many voters consider social media their primary news source on the election, fake news and smear campaigns are dominating the scene. The police’s cybercrime division has been assigned to monitor the platform and prevent smear campaigns. However, the measure remains ineffective.

Responding to the phenomenon, social media teams of both candidates are working day and night to counter such negative strategies aimed to discredit their candidates.

Hariadhi from social media volunteer group Jasmev, which supports Ahok’s reelection bid, said negative campaigns against the incumbent candidate had intensified.

There have been countless attacks launched against Ahok since day one of the campaign, with the message of the attacks being clear: Ahok is a blasphemer and despises poor residents.

“I can find a smear campaign every three hours on social media and the issues are mostly similar, but of course we don’t have to respond to every single one of them,” Hariadhi said.

Before delivering a response, Hariadhi said he had gathered his social media team to discuss whether it was necessary to clarify the issue, emphasizing that the team would deliver clarification if the issue had the potential to affect the public in general.

“For example, last week we came across social media accounts accusing Ahok of having a role in the e-ID graft case. We then issued a clarification that the prosecutors did not mention Ahok’s name at all during the hearing,” he continued.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Musa, a social media team member from Anies’ camp who said his candidate and running mate Sandiaga Uno had created an issue clarification section on their official campaign website to counter such smear
campaigns.

The smear campaign machine has focused on portraying Anies as a former culture and education minister who was allegedly dismissed from the position over a lack of competence. The team aggressively rebutted the attack.

He added that besides Anies, such strategy had also been launched against Sandiaga, with a recent attack on his background as a businessman. Sandiaga, one of the shareholders of private water operator PT Aetra Air Jakarta, was accused of having a role in the high clean water prices in the capital.

“PT Aetra is not involved in deciding clean water prices. It’s the Jakarta administration’s authority. People should check the facts first,” Musa said.

With the runoff election only a few weeks away, political communication expert Effendi Ghazali said the strategy was unlikely to go away anytime soon. With only an estimated few hundred thousand votes standing between the two candidates, smear campaigns might be considered a desperate, yet effective strategy.

“This is one of the most brutal elections I have ever seen and I wouldn’t be surprised if smear campaigns rage on unabated,” Effendi said.