Suarademokrasi, Jakarta, June 3, 2024 – The Safer Internet Lab, a joint initiative between CSIS and Google Indonesia to combat information disorders, has just held a high-level dialogue titled “SAIL Dialogue on Internet Safety” at Thamrin Nine, Central Jakarta.
This event aimed to present SAIL’s research findings on information disorder in Indonesia and SAIL’s roadmap for the future, and also provide a platform for various stakeholders to collaborate in addressing the crisis of information disorder. Additionally, this dialogue marked.one year of SAIL’s journey in understanding and tackling information disorders.
In his opening remarks, CSIS Executive Director Yose Rizal Damuri stated that over the past year, SAIL has undertaken various efforts, from strengthening the information environment during the 2024 General Election to actively contributing to national and international discourses.
Continuing its initiative, Dr Yose also explained that SAIL will try to expand the research stream, positioning internet safety in Asia-Pacific as an umbrella for issues such as deepfakes on online fraud, information manipulation and interference, and disinformation and democratic resilience.
“The novelty of online frauds and information manipulation streams will enrich our current focus on disinformation and democratic resilience and widen the opportunity for academics, experts, professionals, and also government officials from various disciplines (to collaborate),” he added.
Meanwhile, Mira Tayyiba, Secretary General of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Indonesia emphasized the need for concerted effort from all stakeholders at all levels. Mira also stated, “Events like today’s dialogue are crucial in fostering cooperation, sharing best practices, and developing innovative solutions.”
Also in attendance Karan Bhatia, Global Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google, who highlighted that, as a technology platform, Google takes the rising online threats very seriously. At Google, to protect our users, we’ve invested in advanced protections and policies that aim to prevent, detect, and respond to harmful content.
Our efforts are focused on building secure by default products and partnering with ecosystem partners to create a.safer internet. We recognize the need for collaborative action to address this issue and are proud to be part of SAIL.
Karan stated, “This is truly a shared problem that requires shared solutions. The only approach that will work to overcome it is an ecosystem approach; bringing together companies, governments, academia, and civil society to work together.”
In the presentation of research findings, Rifqi Rachman, SAIL associate researcher, highlights the resurgence of influence operations in Indonesia’s election year, driven by evolving social media habits and the exploitation of regulatory and sociotechnical gaps.
To counteract these issues, it is recommended to equip electoral bodies with the necessary resources and technology, educate constituents on influence operations tactics, and urge the government to amend election regulations to address ambiguities.
Furthermore, SAIL associate researcher, Sherly Haristya, emphasized the need for collaboration built on transparency, accountability, and balancing rights to enhance coordination. This can prevent overlaps and misalignments in combating disinformation. As a result, the collaborative efforts created can be more effective in addressing information
disorder issues in Indonesia.
Additionally, Noory Okthariza, a researcher from the Department of Politics and Social Change at CSIS Indonesia, highlights the critical vulnerabilities and impacts of information disorder in Indonesia.
The study reveals that people with higher vulnerability to information disorder tend to question election integrity more; they tend to have lower trust in election-management bodies (KPU and Bawaslu); and they also tend to have lower support for democracy in general.
These findings underscore the urgent need for collaborative efforts to improve public erification practices and expand information literacy initiatives to address public vulnerability. On this occasion, Oktha also announced that the full-length research will be published by Kompas Gramedia.
SAIL recognizes that information disorder is a global issue and the importance of
cross-country collaboration to address it. Therefore, Yose Rizal Damuri also announced that SAIL is now part of the Network of Centers, a global collaboration initiative connecting reputable academic institutions focusing on interdisciplinary research related to the internet. Through this collaboration, SAIL hopes to expand the reach of its collective work while playing its role as one of the “sensory systems” in Indonesia for internet and society issues worldwide.
The “SAIL Dialogue on Internet Safety” is divided into two main sessions. Firstly, SAIL’s researchers will present their research in the past year.
After that, there will be a panel discussion with the Head of Culture and Information Division, Sustainable Development Directorate, ASEAN Secretariat, Jonatan Tan Ghee Tiong; Coordinator for Economy Cooperation, Centre of International Affairs, Ministry of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia, Yoga Sangkan Prasetya; Google Asia-Pacific Information Policy Lead and Global Telecommunications Policy Lead, Jean Jacques; UN Information Centre Director, Miklos Gaspar; Advisor of Public Virtue Research Institute, Anita Wahid; and COO Think Policy & Co-Head Bijak Demokrasi, Prasetya Dwicahya.
The panel discussion stressed issues, such as inclusive regional collaboration to combat disinformation, public-private partnership, and AI utilization to achieve effective information governance.
The study report can be downloaded through the following link: https://sail.ink/publications.
Event coverage can be accessed through the Safer Internet Lab YouTube channel or directly via the following link: https://sail.ink/ytdialogue. *(LI)
