Expert Warns of COVID-Related Hoax as Indonesia Grapples with Third Wave

An anthropologist is warning the public of the potential rise of hoax and misinformation related to COVID-19 as number of confirmed cases in Indonesia continues to rise.

Expert from Lambung Mangkurat University, who is also member of South Kalimantan’s COVID-19 Task Force, Nasrullah said the threat of hoax is very real, and authorities must also turn their focus in educating the public to acknowledge and counter the misinformation.

“The COVID-19 case surge due to Omicron will be worsened by the spread of hoax, so the public must be continuously educated,” Nasrullah said on Wednesday, February 9, as reported by Antara.

However, besides the authorities, he said the public themselves play an equally crucial role to counter misinformation, that spreads particularly faster through social media. At the very least, a person can contribute by not sharing the hoax.

Nasrullah said a several aspects continue to be the driving factors behind the persistent problem of hoax in the country.

First, he said the public are often generally tempted to be the first one to share a news or information.

Secondly, low literacy, unfortunately, prevails in Indonesia that makes the public tend to leave texts or videos as they are, without digging deeper to get more insights. Nasrullah especially noted that this problem doesn’t solely occur among individuals with less education, but it’s also found in those who are highly educated.

Lastly, people are also often get provoked by call to action, including certain words that persuade readers to spread the news. In addition to that, religious terms can be easily found in hoax and misinformation to make it appear legitimate.

“My advice is for readers to not immediately share [the news], but to read it multiple times and understand the content first. Using hoax buster is even more recommended, especially for information related to COVID-19,” Nasrullah suggested.