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Thursday, December 29, 2016
How social media turned political
Police officers escort JamiiForums co-founder Maxence Melo after he appeared before Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam recently. He was charged with obstructing an investigation and for failing to register the site under the co.tz domain. PHOTO | FILE
In Summary
By its nature, social media has broken geographical and time barriers enabling a group of people of hundreds and more- living thousands of kilometres apart - exchange information, ideas, interact and debate issues in real time.
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By The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. It was inevitable turn of events when social media redefined human interaction and group communication around the world.
By its nature, social media has broken geographical and time barriers enabling a group of people of hundreds and more- living thousands of kilometres apart - exchange information, ideas, interact and debate issues in real time.
So when the government banned political rallies and indoor meetings in April this year, politicians and supporters, slowly, but surely shifted to social media.
This year saw unprecedented political activity on social media in the country with Facebook leading the pack, followed by WhatsApp and Twitter.
Not only was social media used for political debates it became a tool for a strong propaganda war pitting the opposition against the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapindizu (CCM).
It all started with the 2015 General Election campaigns where social media served in earnest as an effective communication platform. (Mh! This is not accurate, it started few years before 2010 election)
The opposition, which normally has limited exposure in the mainstream media, perfected the game.
Technical attributes allowed users create interactive groups, that made the job so much director of Protocol, Publicity, Communications and Foreign Affairs for Chadema easier.
A few of members of these groups took on anonymous identities and shared information, discussed hot topics and held heated debates on-line with other members who had names and faces.
Presidential and parliamentary candidates took advantage of the trend and formed additional groups for their respective supporters. But this new from of freedom of expression came with a flood of unreliable information as members speculated which politician had crossed over to a rival camp.
The new state of affairs was sparked off with former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa moving to the opposition from CCM and standing for president. Unlike in the past, when politicking usually ended immediately after voting ,this time round it was different.
Political debates continued even after the fifth phase president was sworn in. This could be explained by various factors, including the increased access to the internet by more Tanzanians.
The advancement of mobile phone technology facilitated by internet-enabled devices pushed the number of users up.
Dramatic, media-stunt actions and decisions made by President-elect John Magufuli inspired more people to stay tuned to social media, triggering more debates in social media.
The ban slapped on political rallies announce in April by the President doubled social media political activity. Soon after another ban on indoor meetings was announced.
Squeezed into a corner, opposition politicians, supporters and other social media users turned to social media to vent their anger, frustration and concerns over what the deemed as a violation of constitutional rights for political association and freedom of expression.
The government armed with the draconian Cyber Crime Act that was enacted in April last year, saw the police arrested more than 10 people either for allegedly insulting the President or for propagating false information against the government.
Some of the most popular cases included the arrest and conviction, in June, of 40-year-old Issac Abakuki for insulting President Magufuli on his Facebook page. He was tried at the Arusha Resident Magistrate Court.
Stakeholders said with the crackdown, social media, remained the best alternative for the opposition parties to reach out to their supporters.
Director of Protocol, Publicity, Communications and Foreign Affairs for Chadema John Mrema said social media was an effective platform for people to engage in political debate without risking a number of restrictions.
“With social media, anyone with or without a genuine argument can be heard,” Mr Mrema said. He added that, most social media users in Tanzania are of voting age, which will inevitably make the platform a game-changer ahead of the 2020 General Election.
A Dar es Salaam-based lawyer Albert Msando said, with the advent of social media, the government’s ban on political rallies may in the future be of little consequence.
He argued that it all boils down to numbers. “We are talking about between 4,000 and 5,000 people who attend the average open air rally to 20,000 people at rally in a stadium. These numbers do not compare to the tens of thousands of social media users debating on an issue at a go” he said. “If anything, the restrictions have sparked a surge in social media users,” Mr Msando said.
The lawyer says he has at least of 117,000 followers on his various social media accounts.
“Each time I post anything political, an average of 40,000 followers view the post. There is a high possibility that all of the active 117,000 followers could view a post if it is politically controversial enough.”
How social media turned political
Police officers escort JamiiForums co-founder Maxence Melo after he appeared before Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam recently. He was charged with obstructing an investigation and for failing to register the site under the co.tz domain. PHOTO | FILE
In Summary
By its nature, social media has broken geographical and time barriers enabling a group of people of hundreds and more- living thousands of kilometres apart - exchange information, ideas, interact and debate issues in real time.
Advertisement
By The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. It was inevitable turn of events when social media redefined human interaction and group communication around the world.
By its nature, social media has broken geographical and time barriers enabling a group of people of hundreds and more- living thousands of kilometres apart - exchange information, ideas, interact and debate issues in real time.
So when the government banned political rallies and indoor meetings in April this year, politicians and supporters, slowly, but surely shifted to social media.
This year saw unprecedented political activity on social media in the country with Facebook leading the pack, followed by WhatsApp and Twitter.
Not only was social media used for political debates it became a tool for a strong propaganda war pitting the opposition against the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapindizu (CCM).
It all started with the 2015 General Election campaigns where social media served in earnest as an effective communication platform. (Mh! This is not accurate, it started few years before 2010 election)
The opposition, which normally has limited exposure in the mainstream media, perfected the game.
Technical attributes allowed users create interactive groups, that made the job so much director of Protocol, Publicity, Communications and Foreign Affairs for Chadema easier.
A few of members of these groups took on anonymous identities and shared information, discussed hot topics and held heated debates on-line with other members who had names and faces.
Presidential and parliamentary candidates took advantage of the trend and formed additional groups for their respective supporters. But this new from of freedom of expression came with a flood of unreliable information as members speculated which politician had crossed over to a rival camp.
The new state of affairs was sparked off with former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa moving to the opposition from CCM and standing for president. Unlike in the past, when politicking usually ended immediately after voting ,this time round it was different.
Political debates continued even after the fifth phase president was sworn in. This could be explained by various factors, including the increased access to the internet by more Tanzanians.
The advancement of mobile phone technology facilitated by internet-enabled devices pushed the number of users up.
Dramatic, media-stunt actions and decisions made by President-elect John Magufuli inspired more people to stay tuned to social media, triggering more debates in social media.
The ban slapped on political rallies announce in April by the President doubled social media political activity. Soon after another ban on indoor meetings was announced.
Squeezed into a corner, opposition politicians, supporters and other social media users turned to social media to vent their anger, frustration and concerns over what the deemed as a violation of constitutional rights for political association and freedom of expression.
The government armed with the draconian Cyber Crime Act that was enacted in April last year, saw the police arrested more than 10 people either for allegedly insulting the President or for propagating false information against the government.
Some of the most popular cases included the arrest and conviction, in June, of 40-year-old Issac Abakuki for insulting President Magufuli on his Facebook page. He was tried at the Arusha Resident Magistrate Court.
Stakeholders said with the crackdown, social media, remained the best alternative for the opposition parties to reach out to their supporters.
Director of Protocol, Publicity, Communications and Foreign Affairs for Chadema John Mrema said social media was an effective platform for people to engage in political debate without risking a number of restrictions.
“With social media, anyone with or without a genuine argument can be heard,” Mr Mrema said. He added that, most social media users in Tanzania are of voting age, which will inevitably make the platform a game-changer ahead of the 2020 General Election.
A Dar es Salaam-based lawyer Albert Msando said, with the advent of social media, the government’s ban on political rallies may in the future be of little consequence.
He argued that it all boils down to numbers. “We are talking about between 4,000 and 5,000 people who attend the average open air rally to 20,000 people at rally in a stadium. These numbers do not compare to the tens of thousands of social media users debating on an issue at a go” he said. “If anything, the restrictions have sparked a surge in social media users,” Mr Msando said.
The lawyer says he has at least of 117,000 followers on his various social media accounts.
“Each time I post anything political, an average of 40,000 followers view the post. There is a high possibility that all of the active 117,000 followers could view a post if it is politically controversial enough.”
