One-hundred local internet personalities have been recognized for their role in spreading positive and constructive information at the Influencer Awards, an event initiated by the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) in collaboration with the Education and Culture Ministry.

The event, which took place on Friday evening in Bogor, West Java, recognized the role of influencers who are active on three major social media channels, namely Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

Actress Julie Estelle; young scholar Gustika Hatta, who is also the granddaughter of one of the country’s founding fathers, Mohammad Hatta; and linguist Ivan Lenin were among the evening’s awardees in the Twitter category. 

Actresses Nicta Gina, Adinia Wirasti and Tissa Bisani each received an award for their presence on Instagram. 

Meanwhile, popular YouTube content creators who received awards include comedian-turned-actor Bayu Skak and stand-up comedian Abdur Arsyad. 

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The Influencer Awards were part of a roadshow dubbed “The Future Is Here!”, which ran from April 4 to 6 in Bandung, West Java, and Yogyakarta. The roadshow aimed to encourage millennials to combat the glut of misinformation by sharing accurate and verified information on the web. 

In a statement, Bekraf head Triawan Munaf called on the youth of Indonesia to utilize the internet more responsibly. 

“Millennials are the future of the information and technology sector. The government’s consistent efforts to bolster information infrastructure are expected to accommodate their innovations,” Triawan said on Friday. (rfa/kes)