Joel Julien
Social media has changed the way political parties now interact with the public, Dr Indrani Bachan-Persad has said.
"Social media is an avenue for parties to communicate openly and directly with their constituents and the national population. So that is what is happening now and there is no intermediary like the mainstream media between the politicians and the public on social media so this is a means that they are using now to communicate their message," Bachan-Persad said.
Bachan-Persad, who attained her Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Politics at Coventry University, in the United Kingdom, is the author of a published book entitled “Mediatized Political Campaigns: A Caribbean Perspective".
Mediatized Political Campaigns: A Caribbean Perspective, gives a critical assessment based on empirical research of the role of mainstream media in five election campaigns in T&T, from 2000-2010.
In July 2017, she presented a follow-up paper on “The role of social media in the 2015 elections in Trinidad and Tobago,” which showed how social media, mainly Facebook and YouTube has had a profound effect on voter opinion, voter behaviour and ultimately the outcome of the 2015 election.
In the build-up to the 2015 general election, the People’s National Movement (PNM) had a “more targeted and aggressive” social media campaign focused on the “undecideds especially the youths” and also the marginal constituencies.
And this social media strategy eventually resulted in the political party being voted into office, Bachan-Persad said.
Although the United National Congress (UNC) also increased its social media presence in the build-up to the general election that party “targeted mostly traditional, mature voters,” Bachan-Persad said.
Bachan-Persad said political parties utilise social media because it allows them to present their messages without interference.
"It provides them with a free avenue to communicate with large portions of the population. They are able to cut off any form of miscommunication as well because the message is not being edited in any way or doctored down, it is a direct message and you will find that will happen more and more as we got closer to election time," Bachan-Persad said.
Bachan-Persad said distrust of mainstream media has also helped in people turning to social media sites to get the messages they want.
Avinash Singh: With freedom comes responsibility
The PNM has grasped the concept of utilising social media and even created the post of social media officer for their recently concluded internal election.
Senator Avinash Singh, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, was yesterday officially sworn into the post.
"Social media is an avenue to campaign, and the PNM certainly recognises the importance of social media in today's world of advertising and putting forward comments and capturing the younger generation in terms of sending a message politically to these young people as to why the PNM, which I represent, is the premier choice as opposed to any other political party," Singh said.
Singh said while everyone has the right to be on social media, with that power must come responsibility.
"Fifteen years ago we did not have social media, it was mainly print media then we went to televised media, everybody now has the power at their fingertips to become a journalist. Every day you are seeing persons taking that liberty and reporting, responding, commenting and being their own journalists which they have the right to do but with reporting you have to at least be responsible and accept responsibility. When you say something if you are not willing to own the message that you have put forward you are putting that is what becomes a problem," Singh said.
Singh said in recent times people have been taken to the local courts for their utterings on Facebook.
"In recent times statistics will show the amount of court matters that have been heard in our local courts dealing with people posting things on Facebook and even uttering word on platforms and talk shows and so on. You are seeing the court is making significant awards to persons and entities who have gone to courts for defamation and so on and it is a real issue now seeing that social media is available for anybody to comment on and to report on," he said.
"Our main concern is that while we have the option now to have social media and comment on a real-time basis as something happens the news spreads like wildfire, we must also be responsible in our reporting so that it does not contravene the laws of the land as it relates to persons and their rights."
Propaganda, fake news
Singh said international political parties utilise social media, and it was even responsible for Barack Obama being elected president of the United States.
"While it is available we still have to be cognisant of the fact that we must be responsible and report accurately and not just spread propaganda or fake news or all these negative, things, racism, a lot of persons are hiding behind fake profiles and pages with no names to spur their racism, their attacks, their personalising of politics and so on at the end of the day you have the right to be on social media but you have to do it responsibly because whereas people have freedom of speech that comes with a degree of responsibility and ownership," Singh said.
"You can't just say things that are irresponsible or wrong and hope that it captures an audience and tarnishes persons reputation and character, we must be mindful of the world that we are living in now because social media is relevant to our daily lives," he said.
Singh said people create memes and use other tools to create the narrative they want.
Earlier this week we saw social media posts drawing the attention of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Police Commissioner Gary Griffith.
On Sunday Griffith issued a release cautioning people from heeding calls on social media encouraging motorists to block major roads and intersections across the country.
Later in the week, Rowley signalled that he would be initiating legal action because of statements believed to be libellous that were posted on Facebook.
In both instances Alderman in the Chaguanas Borough Corporation Marisa
Vidya Ramlogan, the Public Relations Officer of the UNC National Women's Arm was named.
Maris Vidya Ramlogan: I am the victim of cyberbullying
Ramlogan had shared posts related to the two incidents and was called out for doing so by her political opponents including Singh.
Ramlogan questioned whether the incidents were meant to muzzle freedom of speech and intimidate social media users.
"I was wondering if I am the only one that shares posts on social media because that's the impression I am getting. With regards to the first instance I saw the information being circulated on WhatsApp and I saw all the people and they are always talking about what they doing and what they are not doing so I posted it and said well look (at what is being proposed) and then I saw that Senator Avinash Singh, who is the social media officer of PNM, calling me a terrorist and I should be charged for sedition and here I am wondering well this has been circulating all over the place, it did not originate from me, what is that about," Ramlogan said.
Ramlogan said she was among 1,200 people who had shared the post.
She believes she is being singled out because of her social media presence.
Ramlogan has around 5,000 Facebook friends and 5,400 followers.
"Is it because I have a large audience on Facebook? Is it that we are now trying to muzzle free speech? Is it that the next step will be muzzling freedom of the press? I am not sure what is happening but it is an intimidatory tactic.
"We are becoming North Korea where you can't say anything at all," Ramlogan said.
Ramlogan said she has become the victim of cyberbullying as a result of the situation.
"People posted really nasty stuff, saying that I should be beaten and thrown in jail, and actually I have my attorneys looking at some of the posts," she said.
Ramlogan said people hide behind social media to say hurtful things
Ramlogan said she was still awaiting the legal documents from Rowley's lawyers.
Continuing next week