Indonesian President Joko Widodo is utilizing holograms depicting his likeness in his rallies to give his campaign a competitive edge for the coming general election.
The tactic has been successful in reaching voters in the rural far-corners of the world’s 4th most populous country.
“This is really helpful in the campaign,” said a Widodo campaign organizer.
Logistically, using the technology is the right choice as the Muslim-majority nation houses over 17,000 islands sprawling at a length greater than that of the U.S.
Widodo’s main rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, has so far not used holograms for his campaign.
The April 17th election will be the first time in the country’s history the president, vice president, and legislative branch (People’s Consultative Assembly) will be elected on the same day.
The use of holograms brings into mind the controversial use of deep fakes, the emerging tech that is capable of portraying politicians inaccurately.
In January, an American news station was caught doctoring a video of President Trump to make him look ridiculous.
For over a year, the media has been scaremongering about Russia exploiting deepfake technology to deceive the American people.
An anti-Trump liberal in Seattle does it during a live presidential Oval Office address and none of them even report on it.
Let that sink in. https://t.co/xkyfWLytKU
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 10, 2019
Correspondingly, deep fakes have caught the concern of leaders in President Trump’s intelligence community, like the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
“The speed and adaptation of new technologies will continue to drive the world in ways we can’t understand,” said Coats. “It becomes a major challenge to the intelligence community to stay ahead of the game and have resources directed toward how we need to address these threats.”
Similarly, elections are also vulnerable to Big Tech interference, whether its Google controlling search results to swing 80% of undecided voters or Facebook allegedly stifling online communities under the pretense of “election integrity” efforts.
Fox Host Tucker Carlson has repeatedly voiced concerns over the power media giants have when it comes to influencing politics.
TUCKER: “You’re not going to get a Republican president elected ever until Google is restrained. Period.”
(source: https://t.co/WaVHs73sal) pic.twitter.com/gXf0eyyw32
— Amy (@WalkiriaUSA) April 7, 2019
“You’re not going to get a Republican president elected ever until Google is restrained,” said Tucker. “Period.”
Matt Bracken gives his take on the social media unpersoning epidemic sweeping across the internet.
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