<![CDATA[This study examines the legal challenges surrounding social media campaign regulations in the context of the 2024 General Election, specifically regarding the spread of misinformation (hoaxes), attempts to discredit political opponents through damaging content, and the ambiguity of social media campaign rules. The study employs a normative analysis of prevailing laws and regulations, combined with a descriptive approach to understand the evolution and impact of social media campaign practices. The results show indicate that Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections and Law No. 19 of 2016 (amending Law No. 11 of 2008) concerning Electronic Information and Transactions serve as the primary legal frameworks governing social media campaigns. However, the normative analysis reveals that these regulations are not yet fully adequate: the Election Law focuses on general campaign regulation without specific technical provisions for digital platforms, while the ITE Law tends to be repressive and reactive—applicable only after problematic content has already circulated—thereby limiting its preventive function. Furthermore, the study identifies overlapping authority among the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo), and platform providers regarding the handling of violative campaign content; the absence of clear coordination mechanisms results in slow and inconsistent law enforcement. Ambiguity regarding the boundaries between political criticism, negative campaigning, and hate speech further widens the scope for interpretation and potential abuse. The study concludes that regulatory harmonization and strengthened inter-agency coordination mechanisms are essential to ensure that social media campaign regulations can effectively respond to the dynamics of elections in the digital era.]]>
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