Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) has invited the young generation comprising Generation Z and millennials to spread positive messages and campaigns on social media.
"Counter-narrative effort through social media is an effective step," BNPT’s Chief Secretary Major General Dedi Sambowo, said here on Tuesday.
According to him, all parties, including Generation Z and millennials, must participate in disseminating counter-terrorism narratives on social media.
Counter-narrative efforts need to be undertaken through collaboration among all elements of society, including the government, academics, communities, media, and business players, he added.
Sambowo said he is optimistic that if all parties spread positive narratives during social media interactions, the impact will be great for a peaceful Indonesia.
"If counter-narrative efforts are carried out by all parties together, then there will be no more room for hate narratives of radical terrorism," he said.
Social media is often misused to spread fake news, hate speech, and radical narratives that can trigger terror attacks by lone-wolf perpetrators, he added.
This phenomenon should be a concern for all people considering that currently, the number of social media users in Indonesia has reached 191 million, Sambowo stressed. The increase of 12.35 percent has been dominated by millennials and Generation Z, he noted.
Therefore, he said, the participation of all social media users in posting positive information and narratives will play an important role in building peaceful conditions in Indonesia.
Earlier, on April 20, 2022, BNPT head Boy Rafli Amar and Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Bintang Puspayoga, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help protect women and children from exposure to terror crimes.
"Hopefully, this MoU will not only be a document, but we can really implement it in the form of real programs and actions in terms of preventing women and children from the exposure of radicalism and terrorism," Puspayoga remarked.
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