Jakarta. Chief Security Minister Wiranto on Monday (05/03) said the government is committed to fighting hate speech and fake news, and candidates in upcoming elections should eschew hoaxes in their political campaigns.

Wiranto told reporters he had requested that the National Police hunt down and prosecute individuals, groups or organizations responsible for disseminating hoax news stories.

"We will weed them out," he stressed.

The minister also gave a warning to politicians regarding the content of their campaigns in June's regional and next year's legislative and presidential elections.

"Campaigning is permitted, but you must not take advantage of hoaxes, hate speech or issues concerning religion and ethnicity," Wiranto said, adding that such campaigns can only result in chaos.

He said the government has a special inter-institutional team that relies on various new technologies to counter the spread of fake news in the country.

Last week, the police arrested six people suspected of membership in the so-called Muslim Cyber Army, a group reportedly behind the recent hoax news offensive in Indonesia.