A number of people become suspects due to disseminating hate speech contents on social media. The circumstance encouraged students performing community service, called Group 050, to conduct a seminar on media literacy for people in Pakis 1, Dlingo, Bantul. Organized on Wednesday (23/1), it aimed to promote ethics of social media use to the people and to filter information on social media.

“Community should be aware of good and bad impacts of the social media so that they are not addicted to the social media and can utilize them wisely,” stated a community service supervisor Dr. Nawari Ismail, M.Ag.

Nawari, a lecturer of Department of Islamic Communication and Broadcasting, declared that we have to tabayyun (find truth) and do not immediately trust to disseminated information.  Indeed, general elections will be undertaken on April.

“Many people use the moment (general elections) to broadcast hoaxes to take benefits,” Nawari conveyed.

Additionally, a student Muna Rizqa Alam Pratidina maintained that youth is a valuable asset to prevent the hoaxes. However, youth in Pakis only receive news from social media without knowing whether or not it is true.

After having the seminar, it was expected that all elements could understand risks of sharing information without recognizing the truth.