Today’s electoral landscape is vastly different from what it was even 10 years ago. While propaganda rallies remain the prime method of communicating a candidate’s views and pledges to the public, here and even in advanced countries such as the US (where the Presidential poll is due to be held on November 4), most candidates and political parties have shifted to new media and social media to take their message to the masses 24/7.
This has even superseded the traditional TV and radio airtime given to Presidential candidates. According to media reports, many of the 40-odd candidates contesting the September 21 Presidential Election (PE) have not even bothered to take their airtime slots, except for some also-ran candidates who in any case use the airtime to extol the virtues of one of the leading candidates. Moreover, most candidates have drastically cut down on advertising on print and traditional electronic media (TV and radio), mainly because the same message can be disseminated free or very little money on social media.
It is not hard to comprehend the allure of new media and social media. Practically everyone on the planet has a smartphone with an Internet connection, which can be used to access social media at home or on the move. And almost everyone is on Facebook and WhatsApp, in addition to other services such as X, Messenger, Viber, Telegram, YouTube and Instagram. Thus, candidates and political parties have instant and mostly free access to millions of voters (and even the Sri Lankan Diaspora) literally just a tap away on a smartphone screen.
The last PE held in Sri Lanka in 2019 was perhaps the first poll in Sri Lanka where social media and other forms of non-traditional media were used to a great extent. It can be said with hindsight that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa won in 2019 largely thanks to an effective social media campaign, subsequent events notwithstanding. Social media also spurred some Sri Lankans residing abroad to come and vote at the PE. This time too, all the leading candidates and even some of the peripheral candidates are using social media and new media heavily to promote their image and campaigns. But the problem is here not the use of social media per se for electoral campaigns – it is the possibility of their misuse for spreading fabrications. There apparently are “keyboard armies” doing the bidding of certain political parties and candidates for financial gain and other benefits who engage in this type of shenanigans.
For example, there are plenty of completely bogus “polls” and “surveys” on this PE which have already predicted victory for candidate X or Y. In other countries, such polls are scientifically conducted, with details such as sample size, polling period, questionnaire and margin of error all publicised. But such details are hardly provided for these social media “polls” which have flooded our smartphone screens in recent weeks.
It is best to take such polls with a pinch of salt. Besides, even scientifically conducted polls are not a barometer of actual voting patterns, just as crowd sizes at political rallies do not automatically translate into votes at the polling booth. The 2016 US Presidential Election was a prime example for this.
Deepfake videos created with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) pose another danger. These videos show speeches and statements purportedly being made by candidates which no sane politician would usually utter. These are created by various candidates’ supporters to discredit their electoral enemies.
There is even one video which shows US Republican Presidential Nominee and former President Donald Trump speaking in support of a particular candidate of Sri Lanka’s PE. This is of course, completely fake but some people are gullible enough to believe such “endorsements”.
Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the possible involvement of foreign entities in local elections via social media. Such instances of attempting to manipulate voter sentiments have already been reported in elections held in the US and elsewhere. Our intelligence agencies, cybersecurity agencies and the Election Commission (EC) should keep an eye on possible foreign interference in our PE and other elections, with just one week to go before the crucial poll. All possible steps should be taken to prevent such an occurrence.
The voters should thus bear in mind that everything one sees on the Internet or social media is not the Gospel truth. There are plenty of ways of fact-checking – this is now part of the work of every journalist given the minefields of misinformation – but even ordinary citizens have access to plenty of outlets that verify the facts. This is vital in a world filled with so-called “alternative facts” (a term coined by Kellyanne Conway, a former aide to President Trump), post-truths, fake news (which is news that appears to be true or real, but is actually not) and deepfake videos and audios. We saw the consequences of all these combinations during the pandemic, when misinformation overflowed on the Internet with regard to Covid-19 and mRNA-based vaccines. In fact, it was called an ‘infodemic’ by certain newspapers and media outlets.
One other deeply worrying factor is that certain traditional media outlets are amplifying these bogus claims in a drive to attract more readers or viewers. The onus is on the editors and owners of these mainstream outlets to treat social media posts with utmost care, since people generally tend to believe the traditional media more than the new media. They must especially be wary of republishing or airing any posts that may incite communal or religious tensions. Election campaigns have always been rife with falsehoods, but any poll-related content on social media must be treated with extreme caution by one and all.
