Political parties are starting to formally utilise the power of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and their own mobile applications for campaigns.
The ruling party, Awami League (AL), already has a group called “Vote for Boat” to generate popularity before the elections.
Sources at the Awami League said the party is now prioritising online campaigns, as decided by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the ICT adviser.
Awami League had appointed three high-ranking officials from their think-tank, the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), as publicity and publication subcommittee members.
According to CRI members, online content and campaigns are more effective than the traditional method.
On July 9, the ruling party’s publicity and publication subcommittee decided to start an extensive online election campaign.
Several leaders from Awami League’s Central Working Committee said after extensive research, they have found online campaigns to be the most effective medium.
They also said that social media is a useful tool in countering anti-government campaigns and tell people about the government’s success stories.
On May 7, the Awami League organised a three-day workshop on how to use social media called “Lawmaker’s role through social media” for AL lawmakers at the office of the party president in Dhanmondi. Experts showed lawmakers how to use social media more effectively for political campaigning. Around 150 lawmakers from Awami League participated in the training sessions.
Meanwhile, BNP is also using social media platforms to reach voters. The directive came from the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia to utilise Facebook and Twitter to reach grassroots leaders and activists.
The party said they can also monitor their political rivals, Awami League leaders and activists on Facebook and Twitter.
On September 1, 2016, Khaleda Zia inaugurated the BNP's website and her official Twitter account at a programme held at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh to mark the 38th founding anniversary of BNP.
According to data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, as of February 2017, Bangladesh had 67.24 million internet users, out of which 63.12 million are mobile internet users.
Information and Research Secretary of Awami League, Afzal Hossain, said: “Nowadays, social media platforms are very popular among the younger generation. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are becoming more powerful than traditional media outlets.”
Tonmoy Ahmed, associate coordinator of Centre for Research and Information, said: “Awami League is using social media platforms to reach out to the young and the educated sections of society.”
Jamaat-Shibir activities limited on social media
Over the past decade, with their political space shrinking, leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Chhatra Shibir have been using social media to spread their message.
Sources said Jamaat and Shibir now depend on social media to arrange meetings on secret groups on Facebook and spread their political agenda.
A district-level leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the party’s central command ordered each and every unit of the party and student wings to open social media accounts, pages and blogs. They also monitor Awami League and BNP leaders’ activities 24/7 and post updates on their secret groups.
A leader of Chandpur district Jamaat unit, requesting anonymity, said: “There is no scope for Jamaat to practice politics openly. This is why we use Facebook and other social media platforms. They are also safe and popular among the youth.”
How social media became a political tool
2016 was the year that the power of political campaigns on social media was finally understood. From Brexit to the US elections, almost everyone’s perception and confirmation bias was exploited by big data.
What traditional political campaigns could not do, or talk about, on social media amid fake news and bots, people’s deepest darkest bias was exploited for votes. The company behind Trump's online campaign was the same company that had worked for the “Leave EU” campaign before the Brexit vote – Cambridge Analytica. The company uses a method called psychometrics or psychographics.
It measures five big personality traits such as openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism to gage one’s personality and tailor make online content based on what these personalities consume.
Research by Alessandro Bessi and Emilio Ferrara on Twitter conversations during the US presidential debates held between the September 16 and October 21 of 2016, found that over 400,000 accounts used for political discourse were likely bots, and that they were diverting the conversation towards a certain angle.
