The Susceptibility of Young Indonesians to Disinformation

The final paper session at COMNEWS 2023 today starts with Firma Qurratu’ain Abisono, whose interest is in responses to climate change misinformation. 72% of Indonesians rely on social media as their main source of information, but only 30% believe that social media is a reliable source. Younger people in particular are vulnerable to misinformation – they are highly influenced by digital media, and tend to expect information to find them rather than actively search for it.

Climate change is a major issue for Indonesia, and a considerable amount of misinformation is circulating online. The project engaged with some 100 individuals to understand their responses to misinformation. Some 51% of them accepted the reality of human impacts on the climate, and many encountered climate change information on social media (using TikTok, in particular).

74% believed they never saw any misinformation, however; and 43% of these ignored it when they encountered it. 76% also acknowledged that their ability to identify misinformation was only average. There is thus a considerable need for more digital literacy development, and this should also involve student education approaches.