Telkom Indonesia to reportedly build media content distribution platform to fight misinformation

Telkom Indonesia has reportedly unveiled plans to build a local media content distribution platform to support the domestic media industry and fight misinformation in Indonesia. This comes in the face of foreign media platform disruption, according to ANTARA. Citing Telkom's president director Ririek Adriansyah, ANTARA added that this initiative will involve ad platforms, publishers, media, and agencies. It is also said that Telkom is currently in talks "with several parties" to develop the platform, in collaboration with other agencies. 

Adriansyah added that the platform will stem misinformation and allow Indonesian consumers to get information from reliable sources directly. A rating will reportedly be assigned to each news stories, and Adriansyah clarified that the ratings are not given for articles with fancy titles, but reflects the level of credibility of the story. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Telkom for additional information.

The rise of misinformation in the media scene has been a prevalent problem in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study done by Talkwalker and Hubspot, from February 2020 onwards, mentions of fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories increased dramatically. This came as the sudden rise of COVID-19 created an information void. With not enough information around the pandemic during the early days, consumers started to fill in the gaps for themselves, leading to a rise in fake news and conspiracy theories. The study also showed that 2021 will be the year brands and social media channels will focus on highlighting the truth, and silencing “fake news”.

Telkom Indonesia is not the first to fight against misinformation in Indonesia. In 2017, the Indonesian government established a cyber security agency to combat fake news and strengthen security against hackers targeting state institutions. The agency is overseen by Indonesia’s security ministry, and is also responsible for monitoring online news.

Similarly, in Malaysia last March, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) set up an official Telegram channel for its information verification portal, sebenarnya.my. The channel focused on efforts to address the spread of fake news on social media including the COVID-19 issue. Through the channel, MCMC shared all content regarding COVID-19 in the form of news, announcements, awareness, reminders, and common questions that have been verified by Ministry of Health Malaysia, either through its official social media accounts, or through the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre. 

Globally, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have also started implementing changes to their platforms to clamp down on the spread of fake news. Primarily targeted at misinformation around COVID-19, Facebook enlisted a global network of third-party fact-checkers to review content and debunk false claims about the virus. After being rated as false information, offending content will be limited by Facebook and Instagram, while accurate information will be displayed to users.

Twitter, on the other hand, used labels and warning messages to provide additional explanations or clarifications in situations where the risks of harm associated with a tweet are less severe, but where people may still be confused or misled by the content. These labels will link to a Twitter-curated page or external trusted source containing additional information on the claims made within the tweet. According to Twitter, this will make it easier for users to find facts and make informed decisions about the content they come across on the platform. 

Related Articles:
MCMC launches official Telegram channel to combat fake COVID-19 news
Containing the online spread of fake news on Wuhan coronavirus
Instagram unveils fact-checking program to fight image-based misinformation