The commotion in South Tangerang and the SARA issue in the media that worries residents

Also read: Friction between residents in South Tangerang is not a racial issue

Following residents’ appeal, the head of RT 007, Diding, visited a boarding room to prevent activities from going late into the night. However, the suggestion was met with strong opposition from a young man and other residents who felt offended. A debate ensued and eventually led to a quarrel and a fight.

Farhan Rizky (22), one of the boarding house residents, was injured by a knife. He initially took the initiative to mediate and stop the fight between the youth groups.

”I tried to break up the beatings, misahin. I’m neutral, I don’t know right or left. “Because I feel sorry for being beaten up by an NTT guy,” said Farhan, Monday (6/5/2024).

“I think the problem is solved. It turned out there was a brother (local resident) in red wearing a knife. I shouted why did I bring a knife? “I was actually pointed at in the stomach, but I managed to hold it in, suddenly from the other direction there was someone with a knife pointing at my head and suddenly my head was leaking,” said Farhan.

The local residents’ conflict with a group of young people turned out to be recorded by someone and was uploaded to social media. The video quickly spread and became a heated topic because it was deemed to have violated freedom of religion, intolerance, and even led to issues of SARA.

The video also became a source for online mass media to make news. The mass media are competing to quickly narrate the friction in South Tangerang.

The news circulating quickly on social media and online mass media also disturbed the residents of Kampung Poncol because the narration did not match the facts on the ground. Residents are afraid that the spread of SARA-related news will become a hot topic.

The arrival of a number of media crews to the location to find out the initial cause of the friction incident in the village was questioned by residents.

“Why do you journalists spread bad and false news? Why do the media report dangerous issues? The news in the media is not true,” said one resident who did not want to be named.

“The incident yesterday (Sunday night) has made residents afraid. In addition, social and media outlets reporting on the dispersal of worship services are leading to sensitive issues. All of this makes people afraid because it is not in accordance with the truth. That is dangerous, the situation is not like that,” said Mawan.

According to Mawan, the activities of young people in several boarding houses in Kampung Poncol RT 007 often create noise until late at night. Residents feel disturbed by these activities that do not take into account time and place.

A number of residents and RT administrators have repeatedly warned to refrain from gathering in large groups and engaging in activities until late at night. However, these warnings are often ignored.

The head of RW 002 Marat stated that residents do not have a problem with religious activities. However, in some activities, students often gather in groups of at least 10-20 people.

“Because they had been warned once or twice before this incident but did not comply. We are not dismissing (worship), but it’s already nighttime. (One of the residents and student groups) They both have a short fuse,” said Marat.

Mawan continued, residents only want their environment to be conducive, safe, and peaceful. Students are allowed to be active as long as it does not cause disturbances in the community.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Budi Prayitno (32). The events on Sunday night and the spread of SARA (ethnic, religion, race, and group) issues made his family worried. He hoped that there would be no similar incidents and the mass media would not disseminate news that could further fuel the situation.

“We just want a safe environment. There are many boarding houses here, so it’s certainly crowded. But we still take care of each other, we are harmonious, and we don’t conflict. No one prohibits activities, let alone praying. It’s just necessary to pay attention to the environment. It’s pitiful for residents, many of whom are children. If there is a disturbance, especially if it’s related to sensitive issues, it will certainly be very disturbing. Let’s just stay calm and peaceful,” he said.

Similar hopes were also expressed by student residents of the boarding house in Kampung Poncol. As stated by Farhan, the beating should not be repeated because it not only causes a commotion, but also threatens safety. The village youth and students prioritize dialogue rather than muscle flexing.

Meanwhile, Frederikus Legianto (25), one of the inhabitants of the boarding house, said that on that night they gathered in a group of 15 people to perform the routine Rosary prayer in honor of the Month of Mary. As the prayer was almost finished, an RT official came to inform them to disperse immediately.

One resident also asked for the prayer activity to be ended. However, tension began to arise as one group of young people in the boarding houses and local youth started to argue and ended up in a fight.

“We also do not want this incident to happen. If we pray, we do it regularly. We do not want any disturbance to happen as it will make things uncomfortable,” he said.

One of the other boarding house residents, who wishes not to be named, stated that the Sunday night incident would not have happened if both parties could have communicated well.

“Hopefully the future will be good. We learn here. So the atmosphere can be good,” he said.

City diversity

Sociologist from the State University of Jakarta, Rakhmat Hidayat, said that cities in Jabodetabek are a large social space with religious, ethnic, and ideological diversity. The diversity in the city makes it dynamic due to the intersection of ethnicity and religion.

The high intersection of diversity and the dynamic urban life, if not managed properly, can lead to tension and is highly susceptible to conflicts. The case in Tangerang Selatan is just one example. Social conflicts have also occurred several times in other cities in Indonesia. The poor social communication in the community has even touched on issues of religion and ethnicity.

The role of RT/RW, youth organizations and communities can be to control the community or immigrants.

“Some cases in Indonesia are actually only social issues, but instead they touch upon ethnicity and then religion. Tensions are highly likely to arise due to the high diversity in the city. Issues that are initially trivial can spread to ethnicity and religion. This means that big cities with their diversity are paradoxical. If not managed well, it becomes counterproductive and leads to disintegration,” said Rakhmat.

Also read: Takjil’s “War” That Breaks Down SARA Dividers

From those experiences, neighborhood associations in urban communities have a crucial role. The roles of neighborhood officials, youth organizations, and community groups can serve as a control for the community or newcomers. If activated, they can manage diversity because of direct involvement between community groups.

“Doing activities such as community work, organizing competitions for the Indonesian Independence Day on August 17, or creating other events to involve residents, newcomers, workers, and students can help reduce social friction and prevent it from spreading to other areas,” he said.

Not only direct social communication, now social communication is also carried out through social media.

Social media has become a platform for citizens to communicate and spread information quickly. However, it would be highly dangerous if social media became the main source of information as it is vulnerable to misuse and could exacerbate situations and conditions.

Ethical crisis

According to Arga Pribadi Imawan, Head of Research Department at Peres Indonesia and Adjunct Researcher at the Center for Digital Society at Gadjah Mada University, social media has a dark side when it comes to active citizen participation.

Indonesia’s digital citizens are considered inexperienced in providing information on social media. Overseas, netizens who want to provide information have to go through stages such as verification and interviews.

Social media is being used as a propaganda tool that can lead to issues or narratives that can provide bias. Netizens on social media become the truth in assessing and responding to an event or phenomenon. The truth may not necessarily be based on their direct experience or scientific study.

The bad thing about social media, said Arga, is its character as automatically generated content. So, certain discourse that is spread or enters the digital realm automatically spreads quickly like a virus. To stop that, would be very difficult.

One way is to counter narrative through journalistic work in the mass media that is based on ethics. Journalistic work can be a way or fight against automatic generated content whose information is not completely correct and good.

Unfortunately, the problem faced by mass media today is media disruption, which ultimately demands them to work like fast-paced social media. Therefore, it is no wonder that social media has become a reference for information for mass media. From one mass media to another, they scramble to quickly produce similar narratives.

However, to create good and high-quality journalistic products, it cannot be rushed. Unfortunately, that is what the mass media is doing today. The future of the press lies in their own hands. A deeper narrative that prioritizes quality over speed is still greatly needed.

“Critical ethics. “Everything that is uploaded on social media becomes standard truth and is continuously generated content,” said Arga.

The urgency of saving ethics, he continued, requires regulatory arrangements for social media. Regulations like hashtags that can lead to negative and positive things are not yet widely regulated. Digital platforms in the mass media also use hashtags that can lead to negative and positive things.

Likewise with short text narratives (caption) on social media. Mass media that use short text narratives from social media need to be careful so that the news does not become increasingly cloudy and lead to negative things.