VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - UNESCO Jakarta together with the Coalition for Democratization and Moderation of Indonesia's Digital Space (Damai) held a high-level discussion with the theme "Countering Disinformation and Hate Speech Ahead of the 2024 Elections in Indonesia" in Jakarta on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), the Presidential Staff Office, the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), representatives of 12 civil society organizations that are members of the Peace Coalition as well as representatives of social media platforms and messaging applications operating in Indonesia, namely Google, Youtube, Twitter, Bydance (Tik Tok), WhatsApp, and META.

This discussion was held as a shared space to take lessons from the 2019 elections, map the challenges of monitoring disinformation in the upcoming elections, and at the same time identify collaborative solutions involving various parties.

This activity is part of the UNESCO Social Media for Peace program with the support of the European Union, as well as commemorating the International Day Against Hate Speech.

In her remarks, Dr. Itje Chodijah, Daily Chairperson of the Indonesian Commission for UNESCO said that the implementation of elections in the digital era has great challenges.

"We need governments, technology companies, and civil society to work together to ensure that election campaigns and public messaging are conducted in a way that limits the circulation of disinformation, and ensures journalists work safely," she said in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon (June 22, 2023).

Stephane Mechati, Deputy Ambassador of the European Union for Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, said that similar challenges to suppress the circulation of dangerous content related to elections also occur in various countries in Europe.

"The circulation of harmful content, especially hate speech and disinformation, is a dangerous threat to democracy and social relations in society. We all have a responsibility and need to unite to fight disinformation, and find the best way so that citizens can freely express their views, and get information from diverse and transparent sources," Stephane said.

This activity is also to introduce the existence of the Peace Coalition representing the voice of civil society as a strategic partner for various parties and a consultation forum for social media platforms and the government.

"Koalisi Damai aims to build transparent relationships and ongoing dialog with platforms and the government to ensure that content moderation practices and policies in Indonesia are based on an understanding of the local context and in line with international human rights standards. Koalisi Damai will conduct data-based research, fight for freedom of expression online, and increase digital literacy and public awareness of this issue," said Wijayanto, Ph.D, Chairman of the Presidium of Koalisi Damai.

Valerie Julliand, UN Resident Coordinator for Indonesia said that the Peace Coalition can mobilize its network and expertise to provide input on concrete methodologies for monitoring online dangerous content, design risk mapping for potential conflict areas, and propose handling emergencies on platforms and election organizers.

The meeting was divided into two sessions. The first session was open to the public and the second session was closed. In the first session, Dr. Novi Kurnia, Head Researcher of Center for Digital Society (CfDS) - Gajah Mada University, representing the Peace Coalition, and Michael Caster (Article 19) presented important findings from research conducted by each institution related to the regulatory framework in Indonesia governing harmful content, the dynamics of social media use, and current content moderation practices in Indonesia.

Both researches received support from UNESCO. The second session was a closed-door discussion based on Chatam House rules to build openness and free space to convey the challenges faced and provide input.

Representatives of technology companies, including social media platforms and messaging apps, expressed their willingness to collaborate with the Peace Coalition to improve monitoring processes, early warning, and de-escalation mechanisms for the circulation of disinformation and hate speech on social media.

To convey this joint commitment, representatives of the institutions signed a banner "Joint Commitment for Peaceful Elections 2024. Going forward, UNESCO will facilitate follow-up with the parties and pave the way for concrete initiatives that support freedom of expression and access to information as a common need. (VOI/UNESCO)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Ambassador of Indonesia, Damos Dumoli Agusman, was received by Governor Wilfried Haslauer for his inaugural visit to the Chiemseehof on Thursday.

Agusman represents the Southeast Asian island nation of more than 270 million people in Austria and Slovenia and is also the permanent representative for the United Nations and other international organizations based in Austria.

In addition to the cultural appeal of Salzburg, the topics of discussion were also the chances of economic cooperation with Indonesia.

"I wish the ambassador every success in his work for his compatriots in Austria," emphasizes Governor Wilfried Haslauer.

Before becoming Ambassador, Damos Dumoli Agusman worked at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for international law issues and international agreements. (VOI)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Trade Ministry is striving to optimize Indonesia’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase the volume of national exports, especially of micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) products, to the region.

"We have to take advantage of it. We must ensure that Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN 2023 can encourage our local MSME products to become superior products on an international level," Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, said here on Thursday.

Domestic handicrafts, snacks, and clothing products have the potential to become superior products in the Southeast Asian region, he noted.

In addition, Indonesian online games also have a large and promising economic potential, he said.

"Indeed, it (the games) is free to download. However, there are many additional features which need purchasing to be downloaded," the deputy minister added.

As directed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), his ministry is striving to ensure that the products Indonesia exports are finished processed products that have added value.

Sambuaga emphasized that increasing export performance with the support of MSME actors would have a positive impact on the domestic economy, for instance, in terms of product downstreaming and opening new working opportunities.

"As chair of ASEAN, we have strategic values and potentials to ensure Indonesia is able to become a strategic global (economic) player, not just at regional level," he said.

The value of Indonesia’s exports to ASEAN countries reached US$3.97 billion (Rp61.46 trillion) in May 2023, an increase of 26.02 percent compared to the previous month (month-to-month), according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

During the period, Indonesia's exports to a number of its main trading partners in the region, including Singapore, showed an increase.

Indonesia's exports to Singapore climbed by 25.78 percent month-to-month to touch US$688.6 million (Rp10.66 trillion).

Meanwhile, the volume of the nation’s exports to Malaysia reached US$958.1 million (Rp14.83 trillion), up 19.23 percent month-to-month, and Thailand US$547.9 million (Rp8.48 trillion), up 53.27 percent month-to-month. (antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Trade has signed a cooperation agreement with state-run oil and gas company PT Pertamina (Persero) to help small and medium enterprise (SME) players export their products and encourage them to go global.

The agreement was signed by the ministry's director general of national export development, Didi Sumedi, and corporate secretary of Pertamina, Brahmantya Satyamurti Poerwadi, at the ministry's office here on Thursday.

"With strong collaboration between the government and stakeholders like Pertamina, we can realize the shared vision to develop an ecosystem of SMEs that are strong, innovative, and have high competitiveness in the global market," Sumedi said in a written statement released here on Thursday.

Under the cooperation, the ministry and Pertamina will synergize and utilize their resources to assist export-oriented SME players.

Sumedi explained that the scope of the cooperation is increasing the capacity of business players in the export sector and carrying out trade promotions for SMEs to help expand their export market.

He said that the collaboration will be realized by playing an active role in providing technical assistance and assistance for increasing capabilities and competitiveness and expanding the market access of SME products.

The ministry and Pertamina are committed to complementing and supporting each other in encouraging SMEs to go global, he said.

The cooperation is expected to contribute significantly to national economic growth and have a multiplier effect on the Indonesian people.

According to Poerwadi, the SMEs that are being assisted by Pertamina were selected based on a strict curation process at the SME Academy and Pertapreneur Aggregator programs.

He expressed the hope that through the cooperation, SMEs assisted by Pertamina would contribute to increasing the national export value.

"We also hope that Pertamina-assisted SME players can get capacity-building facilitation through export education and training activities, as well as have the opportunity to promote their products to the global market through various promotional activities carried out by the Trade Ministry," he said. (Antaranews)