JAKARTA. Google gave a Rp 2.7 billion donation to the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo), for the campaign against the spread of hoaxes, aka false news.
Ryan Rahardjo, Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager of Google Indonesia, said the donation was part of a US$ 10 million (Rp 142.75 billion) grant program from Google.org, Google's philanthropic institution. "We have also supported a number of other journalism initiatives to fight hoaxes," Rahardjo explained through an official statement received at idnfinancials.com.
The Rp 2.7 billion fund from Google.org will be used by Mafindo to hold a number of workshops in 16 cities in Indonesia. "We hope we can make the process of learning media literacy more enjoyable and easier to understand," explained Septiaji Eko Nugroho, Chair of the Mafindo Presidium on the same occasion.
Since 2014, Google claimed to have started a number of programs to encourage media literacy in the Southeast Asian region, collaborating with a number of parties ranging from creative agencies to higher education institutions. In its official statement, Google.org mentioned managing a budget of 1% of Google's net profit each year. (KR/AR)