"Unlike in the past, without a leader, people now become embroiled in a conflict. But now it is the facebook, whatsapp, short message service and others that lead the conflict," Kalla said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has stated social media has become a "leader of conflict" because it can easily provoke other people in a relatively short time.
"Unlike in the past, without a leader, people now become embroiled in a conflict. But now it is the facebook, whatsapp, short message service and others that lead the conflict," he said while giving a lecture to participants of education program for the National Police Staff and Command School (Sespimti Polri) here on Monday.
Citing an example, he said conflicts in Sumbawa and Lampung occurred after information sent through social media reached thousands of people.
"What does it mean? Conflict is getting faster. In the past, such information was obtained from mouth to mouth. It might take one week for the information to reach thousand people but it now only takes several minutes to reach one thousand people," he said.
For its part, law enforcement officers must have strong information technology and must be capable of controlling information technology properly, he said.
"Through this forum, high-ranking officers must be able to understand issues anytime. But preventing is better than curing," he said.
On the occasion, the vice president also shared his experiences with the participants of the education program in handling conflicts such as in Aceh and Ambon and Poso.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
