Religious Conservatism in Social Media, MERIT: There is Political Intervention

Jakarta, PPIM – A survey into Media and Religious Trends in Indonesia (MERIT) found that the use of religious issues for political purposes had changed the trends of religious narratives and contributed to the increase of conservatism on social media.

The survey was presented by Iim Halimatusa’diyah, research coordinator for the MERIT program from the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta, in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Religious Moderation and Polarization in Cyberspace” on Friday (27/11). The seminar was organized by PPIM UIN Jakarta through the Convey Indonesia program.

Focusing on analysis about religious tendency in media, the MERIT research found that religious discourses on social media were dominated by conservative narratives, with 67.2%, followed by moderate and liberal narratives with 22.2% and 6.1%, respectively. The last was Islamist narratives with 4.5%.

The research also found that the change in religious narratives was influenced by competition among political elites, and that had led to polarization among social media users. The use of religious issues for political agenda had contributed to the rise of conservatism and Islamist narratives in cyberspace.

These findings had defied prevailing assumptions that it was the religious conservatism that caused identity politics.

“We should encourage moderate groups to be more active and become a bridge to mediate the differences and people who are affected by the polarization,” Iim said.

Another strategy to deal with the polarization, she said, was to open more dialogues, using neutral guidelines and facilities to maintain respectful interaction, do more activities that can build trust to each other and strengthen the power of moderate groups.

“As social media users, we have to be smart, don’t let ourselves follow certain interests that are detrimental to society,” Iim said.

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” official Youtube channel. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesian Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented other speakers, such as Prof. Azyumardi Azra, CBE, a prominent Muslim scholar and a professor at UIN Jakarta, and social media influencer Indra Dwi Prasetyo, who is also Managing Director of ID Next Leader.

Writer: Aptiani Nur Jannah
Editor: M. Nida Fadlan