Jayapura, Jubi – Research by four civil society institutions indicates that efforts to obscure information about Papua have spread to the social media platform TikTok. This has drowned out the opinions of some indigenous Papuans who reject Special Autonomy for Papua or the division of Papua. The research found that “misinformation agents” on TikTok often use the hashtag #YouthCreativeHub to expand the interaction of their posts.
The study was conducted by Internews, Indonesia Corruption Watch, SAFEnet, and the Centre for Information Resilience. It involved tracing various posts that praised the success of Special Autonomy for Papua or the division of Papua on TikTok.
The investigation is noteworthy because TikTok is a relatively new social media platform with a more closed ecosystem than others, making it difficult for researchers to dissect and map the origins of various trending topics on TikTok. Analyzing trending topics on TikTok is important, considering its large youth user base—exceeding 100 million users in Indonesia.
One SAFEnet researcher involved in the study explained that the research conducted from August to October 2023 traced the origins of hashtags related to Special Autonomy for Papua or the division of the Papua Province. Initially, the tracked hashtags were #DOBPapua and #OtsusPapua. The researchers also traced the origins of more general hashtags such as #Papua #PapuaIndonesia and #KKBPapua.
The research concluded that the positive sentiment towards the implementation of Special Autonomy (Otsus) in Papua on TikTok is not natural, as it is propagated by certain accounts that interact with each other to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm. In short, the positive sentiments about Special Autonomy for Papua or the division of Papua on TikTok are engineered so that negative sentiments about the matter do not become trending and expose TikTok users.
According to SAFEnet researchers, two TikTok users who have recently become the focus of the study are ariandi6031 and andisa256. The activities of both accounts are very similar and they frequently interact with each other.
“These accounts often upload [content about Special Autonomy for Papua] earliest compared to a number of contents later uploaded collectively [by other TikTok users]. However, we did not find their true identities,” they said.
Fake accounts?
The research also concluded that interactions with various posts praising Special Autonomy for Papua were carried out by accounts suspected to be fake. This suspicion arises because several accounts use names similar to those generated by account generators. Instead of using profile pictures that show their identities, various “Otsus accounts” on TikTok use images generated by artificial intelligence.
Several accounts also frequently repost content praising Special Autonomy for Papua. The researchers from the four institutions concluded that these accounts exchanged content through WhatsApp messaging services and reposted their friends’ content. This conclusion is based on the timing of uploads of the same or similar content.
TikTok content praising Special Autonomy for Papua also often mimics specific news headlines. The researchers found several pieces of content using news headlines from various media outlets as their descriptions.
Interestingly, various accounts involved in praising Special Autonomy and infrastructure development in Papua are often engaged in interactions among themselves. Accounts like andisa256 and ariandi6031, for example, consistently interact with each other.
There is also suspicion on fake conversations. This suspicion arises because various comments are posted by accounts with characteristics of “fake accounts.” The researchers cited posts from andisa256 and ariandi6031 with descriptions such as ‘Video WhatsApp 13-06-2023 at 33.07.46’. These posts receive tens to hundreds of comments from only a few accounts.
Those accounts do not have many posts or have never uploaded any content on TikTok. Another peculiarity is that various “commenting accounts” also post their comments simultaneously. This raises suspicions that these accounts are bots.
Furthermore, the comments or narratives are often the same. In short, the “misinformation agents” are not only those TikTok users who exchange content but also those who exchange comments.
The #YouthCreativeHub hashtag
The research also found interesting behavior in which these users often use hashtags #DOBPapua, #OtsusPapua, #Papua, #Papuaindonesia, and simultaneously the #YouthCreativeHub hashtag.
This caught the attention of the researchers because the hashtag is synonymous with the existence of the Papua Youth Creative Hub. Moreover, Papua Youth Creative Hub was founded by Billy Mambrasar, a special staff member of President Joko Widodo, and its existence was officially inaugurated by Jokowi.
However, according to SAFEnet researchers, they found no evidence that the users are directly affiliated with the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH).
“It’s possible that these users are riding the wave of the #YouthCreativeHub hashtag. Riding the wave is one way to expand the interaction of content. Though there is no direct evidence of the connection between these users and the Papua Youth Creative Hub,” said a SAFEnet researcher.
Nevertheless, they concluded that the suspicious accounts repeatedly used the PYCH in their efforts to obscure information about Papua. One indication is that if the political situation in Papua heats up due to demonstrations, for example, these suspicious accounts will vigorously upload various content with positive sentiments about Special Autonomy for Papua or infrastructure development in Papua and insert the #YouthCreativeHub hashtag in their descriptions.
“We conclude that the #YouthCreativeHub hashtag is the engine of the government’s campaign success by rallying TikTok users in Papua and SME activists in the field,” they said.
“The campaign is simple. ‘Let’s not talk about Papua independence, but there’s a new hangout spot in Papua.’ Our conclusion is that people who often upload misinformation content about the New Autonomous Region and Special Autonomy for Papua often use the #YouthCreativeHub hashtag,” they said.
This is not the first time. The use of fake accounts and networks like this infiltrating social media platforms to spread information has occurred before. Twitter and Facebook once removed more than 80 accounts following a Reuters investigation linking them to a network of news sites supported by the Indonesian military that published pro-government propaganda about the turbulent Papua region.
These two social media platforms deleted hundreds of accounts, pages, and groups in Indonesia from their social networks after finding that they were associated with online groups spreading hate speech and fake news. They spread deceptive messages through hidden page and account networks to promote narratives that often divide key public debate issues in Indonesia. A similar situation was also identified in this study.
Billy Mambrasar: PYCH does not deal with politics
The founder of Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH), Billy Mambrasar, said he had no knowledge of the use of the hashtag #YouthCreativeHub by several accounts suspected of obscuring information about Papua. Mambrasar even admitted confusion with the researchers’ findings because Papua Youth Creative Hub has never conducted online campaigns and is more involved in offline activities outside of politics.
“We don’t have online activities. Our activities include SME training, providing training for Papuan children involved in agriculture, and showcasing Papuan craftsmanship. I only focus on empowerment, and our activities are more focused on offline activities,” he said.
Mambrasar also dismissed the allegation that accounts uploading content praising Special Autonomy for Papua or the division of Papua are hired influencers by PYCH. “We don’t have a budget to pay influencers,” he said. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – Mama (mother) Anace Bongoibo, now in her elderly years, continues her dedication to cleaning up the waste in the Emereuw River Basin with unwavering patience. Jubi met Mama Anace on Kota Baru, Abepura, Jayapura City on Monday (2/19/2024). She stated that she has been working to clean up the river from waste for over 20 years. Initially, she did this work with her husband. After her husband passed away, she continued the job with her son.
“I have a son who works at the Department of Environment and Sanitation of Jayapura City, he is a contract worker, he replaced his father’s position. Since I live here, my son was assigned the task of cleaning up near the stone cave, Emereuw-Konya,” she said.
Every day, Mama Anace begins her work by cleaning up waste around the Emereuw stone cave. She starts after breakfast and works until 5 p.m. She does this work to assist her son.
“I took the initiative to help my son by cleaning up this area,” she said.
Actually, she explained, apart from helping her son’s work, cleaning up the environment where she lives is everyone’s responsibility.
“Not only us, the residents of Emereuw-Konya, but everyone who lives in the area, when their waste ends up here, they should also be aware of managing waste in their own environment, not just throwing garbage into the river, which eventually ends up here,” she said.
She shared her daily experiences of cleaning the river. Sometimes she encounters animal carcasses, such as pigs or dogs. However, according to her, animal carcasses should be buried, not thrown into the river.
“Sometimes there are baby diapers or branches from trees that are pruned improperly for firewood, but are thrown into the river,” she said.
According to Mama Anace, the nets installed to contain waste in the river are actually no longer adequate. If heavy rain comes, it only takes about 30 minutes for the water to rise above the waste containment nets, and the waste immediately enters the Emereuw-Konya Valley Cave towards the Acay River and Youtefa Bay.
“My son-in-law once entered the cave to collect waste inside the cave, he said the cave is quite spacious and the water is very cold, but unfortunately, there is also a lot of waste inside the cave,” she said.
Experiencing three floods
Kores Awom, the head of RT 002/RW 006 of Kota Baru said that residents living along the Emereuw River Basin have experienced three floods. The most severe flood was in 1999, where the water rose above the sago trees.
“At that time, the residents living along the Emereuw River Basin awaited assistance from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), who evacuated them with rubber boats. The flood in 1999 was like spring water coming out of the ground, suddenly the water rose and flooded Emereuw-Konya,” he said.
“Before the 1999 flood, the water near the stone cave of the Emereuw Valley was deep, we could bathe there, the old bridge was just below this new bridge,” he added.
Due to rain and soil material, coupled with garbage covering the location, the water is no longer as deep as it used to be. “Now the water is very shallow and very dirty,” he said.
Actually, according to Kores Awom, such matters are the responsibility of the River Basin Agency.
Awom also questioned the impact of the construction of the University of Cenderawasih’s Medical Education Hospital. “Whether the management of its waste has been carefully considered or not, so that medical waste does not end up here,” he said.
Awom explained that his neighborhood has a population of 198 people with 40 households. The name Konya comes from the abbreviation “Kolam Nyamuk” (mosquito pond), because this place used to be endemic to malaria mosquitoes. Malaria mosquito habitats were scattered around the area.
He also mentioned that from Perumnas IV to the traditional Youtefa Jayapura market used to be a sago forest. The sago forest served as a water catchment area for the Emereuw River. The river used to have clear water.
“It is regrettable that the sago forest has been completely cleared, now it has been replaced with many residential areas, buildings owned by businessmen,” he said. (*)
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