[Press Release] Observing the Role of Digital Technology in the 2024 Election and the Presence of Beginner Voters | DESUS #1

Yogyakarta – In order to form a democratic government in accordance with the 1945 Law, the 2024 Election is here to be held by all Indonesian people. Ahead of this election, social media was treated to news about candidacy, campaigns, and issues of delays. However, many Indonesian people do not understand the essence of elections and how to achieve democracy. Responding to this issue, the Center for Digital Society collaborated with Perludem through the inaugural Desus series to disseminate understanding about the 2024 Election and its rumors to the public. Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati (Executive Director of Perludem) was the speaker on this occasion guided by Heroik M. Pratama ( Perludem Researcher) and Iradat Wirid (CfDS Researcher) as Hosts. This discussion can be watched via the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-1x23d3NzE 

2024 Election Digital Transformation

Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati opened the discussion by explaining the same legal framework in the 2024 election as the 2019 election, namely Law no. 7 of 2017 concerning Elections and Pilkada refers to Law no. 10 of 2016 (UU No. 6 of 2020). However, the fundamental difference lies in the digital transformation which makes vote recapitulation technology the most important requirement so that there is no shift in votes because manual recapitulation takes 35 days after the election takes place. In addition, the digital transformation was also shown by the KPU with the aim of transparency to the public through the Political Party Information System (SIPOL), the Voter Data Information System (SIDALIH) application, and so on.

Furthermore, the 2024 Election will be colored by new voters who are closely related to social media. It is through this platform that information regarding the election to the campaign will be distributed. However, there is no mitigation of risks in social media, such as disinformation and transparency, so handling is needed related to countering disinformation.

Increasing Digital Literacy as a Solution

It cannot be denied that disinformation, hoaxes, and polarization through social media will be Indonesia’s biggest challenges in the election era. Therefore, a binding solution is needed to encourage a democratic digital ecosystem, namely digital literacy.

To increase digital literacy, systematic eradication of information dissemination content is needed, discussion forums that engage all parties related to de-bunking and pre-bunking, collaboration from civil society with social media platforms, analyzing disinformation in the 2024 elections, and a clear hoax reporting system. The most important thing about the 2024 Election is the participation of voters who are able to intelligently choose information during the campaign.

“The narrative that divides and tears down will be the main clue in identifying this. Identity politics becomes political mobilization to build emotional sentiment so that young voters become political commodities that are swayed toward certain candidates. Therefore, we must be able to analyze this,” Khoirunnisa explained, closing the discussion.

Writer: Muhammad Alfasya Syabil Sholatar