Boyolali (21/07) – Ghina Khoiriyah Yogayana, a student from the Communication Science Program at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, currently undertaking the Community Service Program (KKN) in Candi Village, Ampel Subdistrict, Boyolali Regency, organized a monodisciplinary program titled “Utilization of the CekFakta.com Website as a Measure to Prevent the Spread of Hoaxes.”

As the front line in community empowerment, the Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK) cadre, particularly those in Working Group II, which focuses on education and skills, were the primary targets of the training. The training aimed to provide PKK cadres with an understanding of hoaxes, or fake news, and the anticipation and efforts required to prevent the spread of hoaxes through the utilization of the CekFakta.com website, a collaborative project between the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo), the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), and the Indonesian Cyber Media Association (AMSI).

In this training, Ghina presented material on the definition of hoaxes, their characteristics, types, and strategies to prevent the spread of fake news by sharing easy tips on recognizing whether certain information is true or false. “Hoaxes can often be identified by their provocative headlines, improper language usage, and unclear sources,” explained Ghina during her presentation.

Following this, Ghina demonstrated how to verify information using the CekFakta.com website. Participants were also guided to directly access CekFakta.com and fact-check information currently circulating within the community. To help the participants’ understanding, several examples of news spread among the public were presented, such as news about the benefits of green tomatoes that can stabilize blood sugar, but after checking through the CekFakta.com website, it was found that the information was false and misleading.

“This training is essential for all of us, especially for women who actively use mobile phones as a communication tool. It’s challenging to distinguish between true and false information due to the sheer volume of information we receive,” said An Yuningsih Warsito, Chair of the PKK Mobilization Team, who also attended the event and appreciated this initiative as a step towards preventing the spread of hoaxes.

The training on using the CekFakta.com website is part of the KKN Team II Universitas Diponegoro program in Candi Village, Ampel Subdistrict. It is hoped that this training will serve as a starting point in efforts to prevent the spread of hoaxes in Candi Village and assist the community in filtering information, preventing them from being easily influenced by hoaxes or fake news.

Author: Ghina Khoiriyah Yogayana, Class of 2021, Bachelor of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

Supervisor: Rismiyati, B.Eng., M.Cs

KKN Location: Candi Village, Ampel Subdistrict, Boyolali Regency.***