Social media: New ground for campaigns breeding support and propaganda
What you need to know:
It is incredibly difficult to monitor or regulate social media and then use accounts to post, share and comment on stories and images.
As a result, it is critical that people be aware of propaganda and that some people will try to foster a sense of fear and division as we approach the General Election and to think carefully about what is shared and what they share.
Having been in Kenya for the 2007 and 2013 General Elections, one of the things that I am struck by this time around, is the time and money that is being invested in social media and the growing influence of the same.
Indeed, such is the intensity of social media campaigning that some people speak of how the “war is now on social media” and of how this will be Kenya’s “first social media election”.
Clearly, aspirants at all levels have a communications team. This includes “bloggers”, who do not actually write many (if any) blogs but praise and defend their candidate through posts and comments. This includes text, as well as photos, videos and memes that paint their candidate in a positive light and/or which denigrate their principal opponents.
At the upper levels, these efforts might be even more sophisticated with the possibility that social media users will be profiled and then targeted with adverts, news reports, and other leading messages, as occurred during the Brexit campaign in the UK and Donald Trump campaign in the US.
Social media’s appeal lies in the ease of communication and in the ability of its reach to often extend beyond the immediate users, who are still predominately younger and urban citizens. As people discuss what they have read or seen online in public spaces and on vernacular radio stations, and with their elderly or rural relatives and friends. This form of communication is also much cheaper than paying for airtime, adverts and billboards, and facilitating large numbers of people to attend public rallies.
DEVELOPMENT'S IMPACT
It is too early to tell the impact of this development. However, early signs suggest a mixed picture. On the one hand, it makes it easier for less wealthy candidates to campaign; and the use of social media may have contributed to the success of several poor candidates in the party nominations for the Member of County Assembly position.
However, this development should not be exaggerated particularly for the higher level seats. In short, candidates still have to hold mass rallies and assist their constituents, whilst even the use of social media is not free – as aspirants pay their communications team.
The use of social media can also help to guard against certain public forms of hate speech and incitement, particularly in cosmopolitan counties where politicians cannot afford to anger sizeable local minorities. In short, some are now more cautious about engaging in explicit examples of hate speech lest an audience member post their utterances online. However, this effect is limited by a culture of impunity, and because some are willing to alienate local minorities if this will help them to mobilise a local majority.
SPREADING EASY
On the other hand, social media makes it easier to spread propaganda, including fake news, and to foster a general sense of fear. This was evident, for example, in the recent Jubilee party primaries in Kiambu, where a story about how the incumbent Governor, Mr William Kabogo, had insulted women went viral in the last couple of days of the campaigns. Critically, this story also quickly went offline reaching almost all corners of the county, as residents discussed Mr Kabogo’s alleged utterances in market places, bars, and public transport.
As a result, the story is widely believed to have contributed to the governor’s loss in the Jubilee Party primaries. What is particularly interesting about this example is that, while the story lacked any hard evidence, many people found it plausible given the things that the county boss was known to have said about women in the past.
The impact of social media is thus mixed. However, it is incredibly difficult to monitor or regulate such forums – since Whatsapp is encrypted, while Facebook users can set up multiple fake accounts – and then use these accounts to post, share and comment on stories and images.
As a result, it is critical that people be aware of propaganda and that some people will try to encourage the development of a sense of fear and division as we approach the General Election and to think carefully about what is shared and what they share.
Gabrielle Lynch is associate professor of comparative politics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
@GabrielleLynch6
