PETALING JAYA: An even more aggressive fight is expected to unfold in cyberspace following the ban on physical campaigning in Melaka, with political parties turning to social media as the battlefront for their candidates.

       While candidates must navigate the expanding dragnet of cybertroopers and trolls as they scour the Internet for any negative online material that could bring down the political hopefuls, observers say parties need to put in extra effort to reach out to the masses through alternative ways.

       Universiti Teknologi Malaysia senior lecturer Dr Mazlan Ali said that with the ban on political gatherings and physical campaigning due to Covid-19, political parties’ budget for campaigning has been redirected to online activities which include aggressive recruitment of cybertroopers.

       “Their budget meant for physical campaigning is being redirected to beef up their social media campaign. Parties will hire more cybertroopers and Internet trolls.

       “There will be more character assassination of candidates happening on social media, which will psychologically affect the candidates,” he said when contacted.

       Mazlan noted that such mudslinging is already happening.For instance, one candidate was mocked over his physical appearance while another contender was accused of being unpatriotic after a video emerged of her guiding Malaysians on a trip to Israel.

       “Anyone who says the wrong thing or commits any gaffe will go viral very fast. This is because parties are more focused on social media campaigning as they have no other space or avenue,” he said.

       Mazlan said parties with a long-established online presence will have an advantage in the social media battle.

       “Parties that previously depended a lot on social media to get their word out will have the upper hand in this election,” he said.

       Those with many supporters from the “veteran generation”, who are not savvy in getting information from social media, will face challenges in getting their messages out to this target audience, he said.

       “It is up to the political parties to use social media to their advantage but they must have the right strategy for each targeted age group,” he added.

       For example, he said the youth segment is well versed with TikTok while the older ones are more into Facebook.

       He said TikTok is the “star” in this election, as the platform could attract youth with its short videos.

       “People nowadays are more interested in short clips and it looks like TikTok has been effective in attracting viewers’ attention and leaving a big impact on them,” Mazlan said.Assoc Prof Dr Jeniri Amir of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the parties’ election machinery should strive to reach the public through alternative mediums.

       New candidates will face the biggest challenge as the people they are trying to win over will not be familiar with them, he said.

       Since face-to-face campaigning is not allowed, he said the parties have to work hard, especially those whose candidates are new faces.

       “Compared to the incumbent candidates, new ones are not as well known so it will be hard for them to win over votes.

       “Political parties must be creative in terms of campaigning such as using hybrid strategies,” he added.

       Prof Jeniri said a combination of both new media and conventional media will help in ensuring maximum exposure of the candidates.

       “Despite the emergence of new media, print is still a very important medium to reach out to the public, especially in areas where Internet accessibility is limited.

       “What they could do is print pamphlets containing information on their candidates and share them with people in rural areas,” he said.

       He added that ensuring a high turnout rate would also be a challenge in the election.

       Since nomination day on Monday, social media has been flooded with political materials from all parties.

       Information on the background of the election candidates has been shared on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

       Barisan Nasional introduced its candidates using an infographic video while Pakatan Harapan shared short documentary-like videos of their candidates.

       According to the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, there are about 28 million social media users in Malaysia as of January.

       According to Statista.com, Facebook has the most users in Malaysia with over 75% penetration, followed by Twitter.