Bijak Berbahasa, Aman Bermedia: Penguatan Literasi Bahasa Hukum dan Linguistik Forensik Bagi Pengguna Media Sosial

Abstract

The development of social media has transformed patterns of communication, making them increasingly fast, open, and interactive. On the one hand, this condition provides broad opportunities for people to express opinions, criticism, and information. On the other hand, the use of language in digital spaces can give rise to legal issues when statements contain insults, defamation, slander, threats, or other forms of communication that may violate legal provisions. These issues are not only related to legal aspects but also to how language is produced, understood, interpreted, and constructed within particular contexts. This chapter discusses the importance of legal language literacy and the use of forensic linguistics as approaches to improving people's ability to communicate wisely and responsibly on social media. The discussion covers the characteristics of language in digital communication, the relationship between language and legal issues, the basic principles of legal language, and the role of forensic linguistics in analyzing statements or texts that may have legal consequences. Legal language literacy is considered essential so that social media users can understand the boundaries between freedom of expression and communication that may potentially violate the law. Meanwhile, forensic linguistics can contribute through objective linguistic analysis of meaning, context, speaker intent, and the characteristics of a particular text or utterance. Thus, strengthening legal language literacy and understanding forensic linguistics is expected to foster a more critical, ethical, careful, and responsible digital communication culture while minimizing potential conflicts and legal issues arising from the use of language on social media.