Government Crisis Communication in Facing Disinformation on Social Media

The development of social media has increased the spread of disinformation, potentially triggering a government communication crisis and reducing public trust. This study aims to analyze the government's crisis communication strategies in addressing disinformation on social media and examine the role of intercultural communication and digital governance in building public trust. The study used a qualitative approach with a multi-site case study design in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews, social media observations, and document analysis. The analysis was conducted thematically by integrating Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), Social-Mediated Crisis Communication Model (SMCC), Intercultural Communication Theory, Digital Governance Theory, and Public Trust Theory into the Integrated Digital Crisis Communication Model (IDCCM). The results show that the effectiveness of government crisis communication is influenced by response speed, transparency, empathy, information clarification, and rumor management. In addition, message adaptation to the cultural characteristics of the community and multi-stakeholder collaboration in digital governance contribute to reducing the impact of disinformation. Responsive and inclusive crisis communication has been proven to increase public trust and strengthen public information resilience in the digital era.

Disinformation; Social media; Intercultural communication; Digital governance; Public trust.

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