A viral social media posting reporting that Indonesia’s finance minister wants to sell Bali off in a bid to pay off the country’s debts is pure hoax, says the minister herself, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Not only is the whole thing fabrication, but authorities are hunting for the netizen behind the “false posting”, because this hoax is a massive case of defamation, according to Indrawati.
The viral social media post was initially published in October 2017 by a profile using the name “Sandy Yah”, but the link was later removed and the account disappeared.
However, it was re-uploaded and shared on Friday, leading the Minister of Finance to issue a statement via Instagram on Sunday night.
“The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is not for sale. The Republic of Indonesia, since being proclaimed by our nation’s founding, we continue to maintain our sovereignty and independence,” reads the posting on Indrawati’s official Instagram account.
The minister continues in her statement to explain the sovereignty of the country and how policies are openly shared on the ministry’s website.
“The community must be more careful and not believe in slanderous and fake news,” she adds.
“The fake news circulation was intentionally carried out to attack the government, fiscal policy, and state finance in an unfounded manner and attack the Minister of Finance personally.
“Legal action will be taken against the creator and spreader of hoax news.”
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