By Ika Idris, Monash University
Like many countries, Indonesia’s online space is polluted by fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. As the country’s digital economy continues to grow, the government is focusing on cleaning it up.
Indonesia has the largest web-based economic productivity in Southeast Asia, with a digital economy valued at an estimated US$70 billion in 2021 that will reach approximately US$330 billion by 2030. To face up to the challenge of misinformation and boost the country’s digital competitiveness, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information established a national digital literacy program called Siber Kreasi in 2018. When it was first running, the literacy program reached 125,000 people in 350 locations. Later, Siber Kreasi was divided into digital literacy and digital talent scholarship programs. In 2021, the digital literacy program reached around 12 million people through 20,000 online literacy classes. The government literacy program is the largest in the country, bigger than programs in schools, universities, Community Service Organisations, or digital companies. Indonesia’s Minister of Information and Communication Johnny Plate expects the program to reach 50 million people by the end of President Joko Widodo’s second term at the end of 2024.
