Miss Internet Indonesia to Promote Safe Internet and Fight Hoax News
Jakarta. Bali will host a unique beauty pageant called Miss Internet Indonesia 2017 next month, with the organizer — the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association, or Apjii — promising to task the winner with promoting various government-backed internet campaigns to encourage safe internet use, fight hoax news, and teach computer and internet literacy to the public.
Apjii has held a Miss Internet Bali contest in the past three years, but this year, with support from the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, it has expanded the scope of the contest nationally.
"Our main aim is to promote safe internet. Miss Internet Indonesia will be our official ambassador," Apjii chairman Jamalul Izza said in a statement sent to the media on Sunday (26/03).
Apjii counts 390 major internet service providers in the country as members and is scouting contestants for its pageant contest from 12 provinces.
The director general of information technology application at the ministry, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, was quoted in the same statement as saying that the ministry will work with Apjii to improve internet literacy.
"Miss Internet Indonesia will speak in schools and community halls to help explain what internet is, and how to use it in a healthy and safe way," he said.
On Saturday, Apjii Jakarta held a day-long event at Gandaria City Mall in South Jakarta to select three additional contestants for the Miss Internet Indonesia 2017 final, which will be held at the Inaya Putri Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on April 29.
Indonesia — the world's third largest democracy — has seen a huge rise in hoax and fake news recently as internet use spreads from urban to rural areas. According to Apjii data, internet penetration has reached 132.7 million people out of Indonesia's 256 million population.
The government has made several attempts at censoring internet content, including by blocking porn sites and websites of extremist and terrorist organizations. Its decision to do so has been heavily criticized by Indonesia's netizens, who see it as a violation of their freedom of information.
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