Indonesian Agenda: Fake News About Russia’s Special Military Operation on Social Media in Indonesia

One of the key events affecting international relations is Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. At the time of, Russia and Ukraine are in conflict. Russia started the military operation from a defensive point of view, standing against Ukraine joining NATO, which makes Russia’s borders more vulnerable to threats. The confrontation between the parties is taking place in all spheres, including the information space. In this case, it involves spreading fake news. Therefore, the authors rely on the dynamics of fake news in Indonesia on the topic of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. To conduct a qualitative study, the authors are based on data from the information platform TurnBackHoax.ID. A total of 71 samples of fake news were successfully collected and examined, leading to three important discoveries. Firstly, TikTok is one of the sources of dissemination of fake news in addition to international social networks banned in the Russian Federation. Secondly, fake news about the Russian conflict with Ukraine is not as popular as information about COVID-19. The reason for the unpopularity of this fake news is the geographical distance of Indonesia from the conflict zone. Finally, news consumers are still trapped in subjective assumptions and are not as critical in verifying information. This discovery allows relevant stakeholders to become more aware of new sources of fake news and to develop and improve their critical thinking skills.