H

ate speech and fake news are on the rise with identity politics now becoming the norm in many parts of the globe, including Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

Whether it is your uncle or your quiet friend from high school, many people can easily turn into a hate monger whom you would like to “unfriend” on social media platforms.

But identity politics is not the only reason why hate speech, usually spread through fake news, is proliferating on social media.

The National Police’s cybercrime division unveiled on Wednesday an online “syndicate” that has been taking money from people to make and distribute hate speech and hoaxes through social media and other online platforms.

The syndicate has been mainly operating through a Facebook group named Saracen since November 2015.

Digital forensic examinations reveal that the syndicate also operated in several other groups, such as Saracen News and Saracen Cyber Team.

“As of today [Wednesday], we have detected more than 800,000 accounts connected to the group’s network,” Sr. Comr. Irwan Anwar, an official at the police’s cybercrime unit, told reporters during a press briefing on Wednesday at the headquarters of the National Police in Jakarta.

The police revealed that the group broadcast hate speech content based on orders, operating as a perverted kind of business.

“Apart from taking orders, they sometimes took the initiative to produce content themselves,” Adj. Sr. Comr. Susatyo Purnomo, the head of the division’s cyber patrol task force, said.

The group has been using the money to fund their operations, including paying for the group’s website, saracennews.com, where the group publishes fake news about many well-known figures, he added.

“They have been spreading hoaxes to defame a number of government officials and public figures,” Susatyo said.

He added that the police were still investigating those who had ordered the hoaxes to be spread.

Irwan revealed that the suspects had prepared proposals to be delivered to potential clients.

“A proposal we discovered mentioned the price for the service. The price can reach up to the tens of millions of rupiah.”

The group prepared fake news material to be published on thousands of social media accounts once they received payment.

The police have arrested three people who had acted as the group’s administrators since July. The three have been declared suspects. The suspects have been identified only as JAS, 32, MFT, 43, and SRN, 32.

JAS is the group leader and the one who recruited members for his group by uploading provocative content relating to racial and religious issues that had been percolating on social media.

Meanwhile, MFT, the organization’s media and information officer, and SRN, the regional group coordinator, were tasked with spreading hate speech through memes and edited photos and redistributing other members’ posts on ethnic and religious themes.

JAS also made anonymous accounts to serve as fictional group members and post further provocative comments to every post the group made. “JAS has 11 electronic mail and six Facebook accounts that he used to make a number of groups or takeover other accounts,” Irwan said.

During the arrests, police investigators confiscated dozens of SIM cards, data storage devices, cellphones, computers and memory cards. (kuk)