Jakarta:

In the midst of Indonesia’s presidential campaign, 22-year-old voter Irene Putri Aisyah is busy uploading everything she sees, from adorable dances to cooking demonstrations, to the short-video app TikTok.

To appeal to young voters like Irene, all three candidates in Indonesia’s February 14 election have chosen TikTok, which has 125 million users in the country, second only to the United States.

But experts say the platform is also rife with problematic content seeking to manipulate young voters, who make up more than half of the country’s roughly 205 million registered voters.

In this new online battlefield, once-feared soldier Prabowo Subianto reinvents himself as a lovable politician. His awkward dance moves are reminiscent of local martial arts, and videos have received millions of views, inspiring others to imitate him.

As the front-runner faced vitriol from rivals in televised debates, female supporters shared videos of themselves crying for Prabowo.

Competitors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo have also increased their presence on the app, answering questions in real time during live sessions or sharing videos with Video of a sincere encounter between voters.

Anita Wahid, a researcher who has worked with TikTok on issues related to online trust, said: “TikTok is the most attractive app to first-time voters, so as a platform for campaigning and disseminating election-related information, it really Very influential.” and safety.

enduring popularity

During the election campaign, TikTok became the second-most used source of political information among Indonesians, after television, according to a January survey by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia.

“We can easily find information about Prabowo on TikTok,” said voter Erin.

But experts note that some of the information may be incorrect.

Enda Triastuti, a communications researcher at the University of Indonesia, said that because of the content, many young voters may not know that Prabowo was forced to deny accusations of human rights abuses while he was a special forces commander.

Doctored images and “deepfake” videos of candidates have also been widely circulated.

TikTok says on its website that its policy is to remove “harmful misinformation” and work with fact-checkers to flag or debunk it. The platform also bans political advertising and fundraising.

“We prioritize protecting the integrity of elections on our platform so our community can continue to enjoy creative and entertaining TikTok experiences,” a TikTok spokesperson said in an email.

Researcher Anita Wahid said younger voters prefer to see candidates create interesting content, which explains the app’s enduring appeal and success in this election.

“This is a new battle.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)