GE13: Barisan all ready to slug it out in cyberspace
(The Star) – Learning its lesson from the 2008 general election, Barisan Nasional has increased its presence radically in cyberspace, which Pakatan Rakyat had dominated.
Now thousands of cyber troopers from both sides are waging an epic battle which began several months ago, long before the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies.
Barisan has trained thousands of “cyber activists” who have been disseminating information on the coalition’s programmes and achievements on social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the cyber activists were also tasked with countering opposition allegations.
He added: “We learned our lesson in the 2008 general election, when the opposition had used the platform to woo voters and spread lies about Barisan. This time round we are prepared.”
As polling day approaches, Khairy said the next few weeks would be a critical period to counter opposition attacks “with evidence and facts”.
Barisan has also introduced the “BN Youth” mobile application for Android users which will be further developed in the weeks ahead to offer election news for the iOS platform.
Khairy, who has almost 250,0000 Twitter followers on his account @khairykj, said Barisan’s online efforts for this general election were better coordinated than previously.
“But we have to be realistic. We will try our best but it’s a tough landscape.
“The social media are the opposition’s mainstream and we are on hostile ground there,” he said.
MCA Youth central committee member Chong Sin Woon said the party had at least 300 members who are actively posting comments, rebutting opposition accusations and promoting MCA activities online.
MCA also has about 1,000 friendly supporters helping to disseminate information via social media.
Chong acknowledged that the opposition cyber troopers “virtually controlled” the Malaysian online political scene for the first two years after the March 2008 general election.
This was changing, he said, adding: “We sense more people are realising that Pakatan cyber troopers are making all sorts of unfounded accusations.”
He said cyber war is unavoidable as many people, especially the young and first-time voters, are getting their information online.
“All we want is for the public to understand current issues, and by questioning the opposition online, we force them to explain their rationale,” Chong said.
Putera MIC coordinator P. Kamalanathan said the party had mobilised a social media team of 50 volunteers for the elections, as well as set up an MIC online TV and the Nambikei website.
He added that party president Datuk Seri G Palanivel, deputy president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam and himself had personalised apps on Google Play for people to download.
