Youth tripped up by political perils on social media
For Matara resident Asiri Mahindadasa, 32, Facebook is his main news source and the forum for his political views expressed via photos, posts, memes (funny political comics).
Asiri who works at a private bank branch in Moneragala, said as most of the youth in the area are active on Facebook rather than other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, he shared his thoughts on the popular platform during the recent local government elections.
"I post and share what I feel is right. My friends and colleagues re-share and like my posts. I have no political background, but I express my views. People in this area do not understand complex issues such as the bond issue,” he said.
Suhith Block ( 36), a father of two, works in Colombo but frequently travels to Mapalagama, Galle, his hometown.
“Most of us do not have time to watch television or political debates. But through social media most of us are updated with the latest news, whether it is at office, or on our way home. In this election there was big support for the former president than those who promised good governance,’’ he said. Most of his FB friends are from his village.
According to Suhith, some parties failed miserably as they could not attract young voters through social media.
However, experts fear that the lack of a social media presence by political parties, academics, state institutions and experts in politics, exposes ordinary users to falsehoods.
“Social media had a great influence in the last presidential election as well as the recent local government elections. People in rural and urban areas are informed about national issues especially through Facebook,” said, Dr. S. Abeysinghe, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Open University.
“Unfortunately what is missing is the lack of intellectual dialogues. There are very few academics and politicians active on social media platforms who address the local youth in simple language,’’ he said.
Citing low political literacy among Sri Lankan youth, Dr Abeysinghe said they can easily change their perceptions based on posts on Facebook and other leading social media platforms.
He said in many developed countries, citizenship education is a main component in the school curriculum, therefore they leave school with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of politics and governance.
“Political parties also showed a lack of enthusiasm about reaching many young people who had questions on their manifestos and promises, via socila media. There is a need for political parties to start online dialogues,” Dr. Abeysinghe said.
About 32%, or six million, of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population use the internet and about 20%, or four million have Facebook accounts, said Dinithi Jayasekare, senior lecturer at Kelaniya University’s Department of Mass Communication.
“Facebook is now being used as a political platform rather than merely a place to chat with old friends and family. Sri Lankans, especially the rural population is yet to be familiar with Twitter, Instagram and other modes of social media,” she said.
A study by Ms Jayasekare along with Wijeyananda Rupasinghe, on “New Media Tool of Political Communication”, suggests that the Parliament, parliamentarians, Government and political parties should use the new media as they are highly effective tools to involve and inform citizens in public policymaking and in the formation of governments.
“But all these groups must develop strategies to deal with a wide array of both positive and negative effects of these rapidly growing media,” the study recommended.
Ms Jayasekare said only 10% of members of parliament use their official websites to reach the public.
“The difficulty in monitoring and regulating, lack of ethics and fake accounts are some negative areas of social media,” she pointed out.
Florence, (not her real name), a social media manager, said social media, especially Facebook, play a major role among Sri Lankans, mainly those between the ages of 16 to 30 years, with majority relying on social media for news.
“There are memes and posts made by and designed to address first time voters, students in universities and higher education institutions,” she said.
Sunil Abeyratne, the chairman of ICT Lawyers Guild and visiting lecturer on ICT law, said there is a need to strengthen the Police Department’s Cyber Crimes Division.
“The cyber crimes division needs to be equipped with more IT investigators to monitor actions on social media to check violations of the law,’’ said Mr Abeyratne, who is training police officials in ICT law. A diploma in ICT Law has been introduced at the Police Training School.
Principal Information Security Engineer Roshan Chandragupta, of the Sri Lanka Computer Readiness Team, said action should be taken against social media crimes under the Computer Crimes Act.
However, with regard to the safe and responsible use of social media for politics, the team conducts training and awareness programmes.