A communications student from East Nusa Tenggara learned to spot digital threats close to home
One evening in East Nusa Tenggara, Bella’s mother showed her a message from their neighborhood WhatsApp group. It contained a link inviting residents to fill in personal data to receive government assistance through Indonesia’s Family Hope Program (PKH).
Bella, a communications student at Universitas Nusa Cendana who had been working as a PKH surveyor, immediately felt something was wrong. The URL looked suspicious as It was unusually long with an unfamiliar domain. When she opened it in incognito mode, the landing page was cluttered with bright colors and a blurred government logo, requesting names, national ID numbers, and phone numbers.
She cross-checked with fellow surveyors and searched online. It turned out to be a phishing link.
Her mother hadn’t filled it out, but several neighbors had. Some later found that their national ID numbers could no longer be used to register phone numbers — their data had likely been misused.
Months earlier, Bella had heard about Saring Daring from a classmate in the Digital Media concentration. At the time, she hesitated. The program timeline seemed long, and she was already juggling university activities including student organizations for traditional dance and writing, plus part-time responsibilities outside campus. But the more she read about the initiative, the more she realized digital literacy and digital democracy were not niche topics reserved for media students. “We live in a fast-paced era,” she reflected.
“We don’t only live in the real world anymore, we live in the digital world too. I felt I needed to learn how to be a better digital citizen.”
Together with friends, she formed a team—Tim Penerus Bangsa (The Nation’s Successors)—and joined the program.
Through bootcamps, masterclasses, and hands-on content production, she gained the tools to analyze information critically and communicate responsibly online. Identifying misinformation, she says, has become easier. “The patterns don’t really change,” she explained. “And now there are tools we can use to verify news.”
Yet she also recognizes that creating safe digital spaces is more complex than simply spotting hoaxes. In East Nusa Tenggara, several popular “citizen journalism” Instagram accounts regularly post trending local news. While some content is informative, other posts are shared without proper verification, sometimes fueling negative public opinion or spreading false information.
When a university senior once tried to provide constructive feedback in a comment section, the response was backlash. He was accused of being self-righteous and was publicly criticized by followers who defended sensational content over careful reporting. Bella remembered a message from one of the Saring Daring masterclasses, which emphasized that creating a safe digital space starts with individual responsibility and a willingness to be mindful of others.
She understands now that digital democracy is difficult because people are different. Emotions run high and opinions are expressed quickly, but she believes change begins with individual responsibility.
Since the program, Bella has changed how she navigates digital spaces. She hides or limits exposure to accounts she considers unhealthy. Before commenting online, she pauses to consider whether her words are respectful and constructive. “I don’t want my comment to make a situation worse or create division,” she said. She also shares content about the rights and responsibilities of digital citizens through Instagram stories, where she receives encouraging responses from followers.
Beyond Saring Daring, Bella continues to deepen her learning. She has joined digital literacy classes with MAFINDO (Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia), an organization focused on combating misinformation. Recognizing that digitalization now extends into financial systems, she has also engaged in financial digital literacy initiatives with Bank Indonesia’s consumer protection program in East Nusa Tenggara.
