On June 11, 2025, Safer Internet Lab’s research consultant, Rifqi Rachman, was invited by FPCI to speak at one of their Reality Checks workshops. The session covered several key topics:

1. Disinformation trends on Indonesian social media
   
2. Factors driving the rapid spread of disinformation in Indonesia’s online ecosystem
   
3. Youth empowerment in producing accurate and responsible content

Rifqi began by emphasizing that disinformation tends to intensify during politically stressful events, such as elections. However, SAIL’s latest survey showed that the recent Indonesia’s disinformation trends had a low impact towards voters due to elites’ consensus (different from the very divisive camps found in 2019), further involvement of platforms, and the continuation of fact-checking efforts. Drastic changes of disinformation spread were coming from the format and the production speed, which altered the way false narratives spread. Now, they are spread in a short and explicit manner, mainly through a short video. 

Rifqi also pointed to additional factors behind the rise in election-related disinformation, such as the stagnant verification frequency from the public and the low participation in reporting content that violates the platform’s community standard. From users’ point of view, disinformation also demands our brain’s attention and triggers our survival instinct, which strengthens our “negativity bias” (Yoshida, 2021) when encountering false and negative information.

Lastly, Rifqi recommended the workshop’s participants to take three actions. First, they should play the role of a storyteller within their own networks, becoming a source that captures attention and engages audiences. Second, they are urged to act as curative agents who help rebuild the infrastructure of truth in their communities. Finally, they should remain attuned to public sentiment while continuously injecting the values they wish to promote into the digital ecosystem.