Indonesia is in a maelstrom of fake news stirring up ethnic and religious tensions. From President Joko Widodo being of Chinese descent to prosthetic fingers allegedly being distributed before election day so Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnamas supporters could vote many times.
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim group, is so concerned about the issue that it is trying to get a fatwa issued to tackle it. Muhammadiyah has millions of members and the only group bigger than it, Nahdlatul Ulama, is the biggest Muslim group in the world.
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The organization will hold a national meeting on Friday in Ambon, a largely Christian island, where its youth wing will present its plan to take on political buzzers.
We will push Muhammadiyah to publish a fatwa saying political buzzers are haram. Why? Fake news that is making our country restless right now comes from those political buzzers, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, head of Muhammadiyahs youth wing, told reporters at the State Palace on Monday after meeting with President Jokowi.
They are the producers of slander, they spread hatred, they spread instability.
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Dahnil added that the Quran forbids slander.
Spreading slander and manipulating (people) has become some peoples way to make a living. The money they get from forbidden deeds is haram, he said.
He also urged President Jokowi to make a policy to "fight" the buzzers.
Pak Jokowi agreed to make such policy.
The government set up an agency to combat fake newsin January. Indonesia also has a strict law on electronic information that has been used to prosecute numerous people for defamation and slander.