oleh: Ni Putu Sinta Dewi
The development of digital communication technology over the past two decades has fundamentally transformed the ways in which governments, politicians, and public institutions interact with society. The digital sphere creates limitless connectivity through social media, instant messaging platforms, and algorithm-based information ecosystems. This transformation not only accelerates the flow of information but also presents new challenges in the form of message distortion, the rapid formation of public opinion, and competition among various sources of informational authority (Chan & Yi, 2024). In the digital space, particularly in Indonesia, it has become a highly dynamic arena for shaping public opinion regarding political issues and state policies, especially through discourse occurring on social media and within digital communities.
The phenomenon of misinformation, disinformation, and political polarization further deteriorate the quality of communication between the government and the public. Digital platforms accelerate the dissemination of inaccurate information, create fragmentation in public perception, and reinforce group biases. This situation contributes to a decline in public trust toward state institutions, observable in various political dynamics such as mass demonstrations, policy resistance, or rejection of official government narratives. This indicates that the public trust crisis is not solely related to the quality of information delivery, but more importantly, to the credibility of political communicators themselves.
Message credibility has become a central issue in digital political communication because the public today acts as both producers and consumers of information. The one-way communication model that has long been dominant in government practices is no longer sufficient to meet the demands for transparency, participation, and public accountability. In line with the deliberative public sphere approach, the effectiveness of political communication is largely determined by the ability of political actors to build open, consistent dialogue grounded in public rationality (Hsu, 2026). When government communication fails to meet these standards, it contributes significantly to a public trust crisis.
The public trust crisis is a structural issue closely related to state legitimacy. Legitimacy depends not only on substantive policies but also on public perceptions of transparency, integrity, and the credibility of political communicators. When the government fails to deliver credible messages, the digital sphere becomes a space of delegitimization that intensifies conflict between the state and society (Lee & Xenos, 2022). Therefore, message credibility is a strategic factor that determines the success of government political communication.
The urgency of strengthening message credibility becomes even more evident in government non-commercial campaigns, including health campaigns, public safety initiatives, social development programs, and policy education campaigns. Unlike commercial campaigns, non-commercial campaigns prioritize public interest, making ethical standards, transparency, and information accuracy increasingly important. This is reinforced by research conducted by Kim & Lim (2020), which shows that government campaign failures often occur because messages are perceived as inauthentic, inconsistent with social conditions, or misaligned with public experience.
Crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, political turbulence, or policy conflicts serve as the most significant tests of government credibility. Discrepancies between official government narratives and the information circulating within the digital sphere trigger the rapid growth of counter-narratives that may appear more convincing to parts of the public. In an information ecosystem that is highly competitive, delays or inconsistencies in information from state authorities become major drivers of public distrust (Malecki et al., 2021). Therefore, strengthening message credibility should be understood as a long-term strategic effort, not merely a technical step.
Previous research by Neo (2022) shows that the credibility of political communicators consists of three main dimensions: expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill toward the public. When any of these dimensions are not fulfilled, political messages tend to lose their persuasive power even when delivered through official channels. When linked to Indonesia, which is characterized by polarization and low digital literacy, message credibility becomes even more crucial in gaining public trust.
The digital sphere has reinforced a post-truth culture, where emotions, identity preferences, and political affiliations hold more weight than objective facts. Within this reality, the success of political communication strategies is determined not only by presenting facts but also by the communicator’s ability to build trust through narratives that are consistent, inclusive, and publicly relevant (Corner & Pels, 2021). Message credibility thus functions as a key element in the success of non-commercial campaigns.
The credibility of political communicators’ messages is the fundamental element for building and maintaining public trust in the digital era. The transformation of the digital sphere has created a communication ecosystem that is fast-paced, open, and highly competitive, enabling the public to evaluate the reliability of government messages in real time. In this context, the three components of credibility, namely expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill serve as the key benchmarks used by the public to assess the truthfulness and sincerity of political messages. When these components are not fulfilled, the digital sphere rapidly generates perceptual distortions, public resistance, and declining governmental legitimacy. The digital environment reinforces public fragmentation, accelerates the spread of disinformation, and creates narrative competition between state and non-state actors. In such a situation, political messages that are inconsistent, non-transparent, or delayed become highly vulnerable to being overshadowed by alternative narratives that are more emotional and more easily accepted by the public. Consequently, the government loses control over public narratives, allowing the trust crisis to develop into a structural problem that undermines policy effectiveness and weakens state legitimacy.
Strengthening message credibility must become a strategic priority in governmental political communication, especially when addressing crises of public trust in the digital sphere. The government needs to adopt a more dialogic, responsive, consistent, and data-driven communication approach while being more attentive to the psychological and social dynamics that shape public perception.
