87,000 groups target voters on WhatsApp
new delhi — The first phase of voting begins from April 11 and WhatsApp — and not its parent company Facebook — has turned out to be the biggest social media platform for more than 87,000 groups to target millions with political messaging.
According to WhatsApp, over 200 million monthly active users (MAUs) are using its platform in India, but the fact is that these numbers are dated back to February 2017 and the company has not shared latest India numbers for over two years now.
India today has nearly 430 million smartphone users, according to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research.
If we go by these numbers, 200 million can’t be a right figure as almost every smartphone owner — from your grandpa to the maid at home — uses WhatsApp and is a potential target for the groups working round-the-clock to reach them.
“By the end of 2016, India had nearly 280-300 million smartphone users. Today, it has crossed 400 million.
“People across age-groups are using WhatsApp so it is safe to say that the Facebook-owned platform reaches over 300 million Indians, almost to the size of Facebook users in the country or even bigger,” said Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research.
With Reliance Jio, data has gone ultra-cheap and political parties are now seen to livestream rallies, Press meets and TV debates on Facebook and YouTube to reach their target audiences in the hinterlands.
“Over 87,000 groups aiming to influence the voters are currently active on WhatsApp. From fake statistics related to various government policies to news promoting regional violence, manipulated political news, government scams, historical myths, propaganda to patriotism and Hindu nationalism — WhatsApp has it all in the election season,” informed social media expert Anoop Mishra.
One WhatsApp Group can have a maximum of 256 users so these 87,000 groups can reach over 20.2 million people directly.
Now imagine one user from these groups forwarding one message to five (maximum forward limit on WhatsApp) and these groups can actually engage a much bigger audience in their mission to influence voters.
Realising the importance of curbing fake news, WhatsApp has launched several initiatives, from awareness programmes on dangers of fake news on TV, radio and digital platforms to limiting the number of forwards to five.
It has also tied up with the Nasscom Foundation to train nearly 1,00,000 Indians to spot false information and provide tips and tricks to stay safe on WhatsApp.
“We’re pleased that the recent changes we’ve made to limit viral content and educate users is having an impact. This work is never done — there is more that we can and will do,” WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose said in a statement recently.
WhatsApp, including other social media firms, will now have to process any request from the Election Commission to take down content within three hours during the 48-hour period before voting days.
The task is enormous and the stakes are high.
“WhatsApp has been trying to curb the spread of fake news but has got a little success in doing so. Let us see how the things unfold as we enter the crucial election time,” added Mishra. — new delhi — After much uncertainty, the Congress has finally succeeded in putting in shape alliances in some states for the Lok Sabha battle, with a functionary saying it will be the “most alliance friendly” election for the party.
After being in power in Karnataka along with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), the Congress has formed major alliances in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Congress is largely contesting alone in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh after being rebuffed by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
And its talks with the Left in West Bengal have crashed and there is also uncertainty over a tie-up with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.
In Assam, AIUDF appears keen to shake hands with the Congress to avoid a split in opposition votes. The alliances, party leaders hope, will not only help Congress candidates perform better but will also help it to form a post-poll coalition.
2004 strategy in play
Praveen Chakravarty, chairperson, Data Analytics Department of Congress, said the Congress will concede the most number of seats to allies and contest the fewest number in this parliamentary election.
“Amidst all the din, 2019 will be the most ‘alliance friendly’ election for @INCIndia. With just the already announced alliances, it will concede the most number of seats to alliance partners and contest its fewest number of seats in a Lok Sabha election ever,” he tweeted.
The Congress had reached out to opposition parties in a major way in 2004 to oust the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The party contested 414 seats, its lowest number since 1996, and the carefully crafted alliances helped the party get a surprise result and form a coalition government. The Congress-led alliance was re-elected in 2009.
Congress leaders are hopeful of a similar outcome in 2019. —