Indonesian authorities have uncovered a group spreading hate speech and fake news online, one of many that they fear could undermine national unity. Three people were arrested this week on suspicion of being part of a syndicate being paid to spread incendiary material online through social media, police said. The police cyber crime unit said dozens of Facebook and other social media accounts were being sued to spread the material to an estimated 800,000 social media accounts. Setiyono said investigators had uncovered money transfers of up to $5,000 to pay those spreading the material. Authorities have scrambled to remove hate speech from social media and online forums in an attempt to defuse tension but a growing amount of content encouraging religious intolerance or radicalism is being shared.

Source: dna August 24, 2017 11:03 UTC