BJP's 'shadowy' social media accounts pushing out political ads, promoting communal, divisive content

Counterview Desk 

The NGO network, Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, has alleged in a statement that the BJP is spreading sea of hatred on social media before Jharkhand elections, regretting, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is mum despite shocking facts revealed in a research report.

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A research report released on 6 November 2024 by Tech Justice Law Project, Indian American Muslim Council, India Civil Watch International, Hindus for Human Rights and Dalit Solidarity Forum has once again exposed BJP’s hateful agenda and the election commission’s bias. This report, based on the assessment of transparency data available on Facebook, has revealed two things, 1) BJP is secretly spending crores of rupees to spread communalism and dehumanizing Adivasi Chief Minister on social media and 2) BJP is doing this by creating many shadow pages and accounts. Shadow accounts are those which promote and work for a particular political party but are not declared by the same. Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan demands immediate action against these pages.
In the last three months, BJP has spent Rs 2.25 crores on political advertisements on Facebook. Half of this money was spent by BJP's official page where 3100 advertisements were posted that made about 10 crore impressions. At the same time, about 15000 paid advertisements were spread through shadow pages by spending Rs 87 lakh which were viewed about 45 crore times. The research has identified 90 such shadow accounts, the main ones among which are 'Jharkhand Choupal' and other ‘Choupal’ accounts associated with it.
While BJP's official page pushes out political ads, these shadow accounts mainly post communal and divisive content. Including ads against the Hemant Soren government and alliance parties. Four main types of ads were identified – first, that portray Muslims as the enemy; second, which promote communal divide; third, where the Adivasi chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren is portrayed as a beast with horns on his head; and fourth, with conspiracy theories about 'infiltrators'. The readers are incited and mobilized against Hemant Soren government and the INDIA parties through these posts. About 90 such shadow pages are operating across the state that post 5 times the number of ads as BJP and garners 4 times more online impressions. Some examples are attached.

One of the communal videos being circulated on the accounts shows a group of people dressed in saffron clothes as Hindus and a group dressed in green clothes as Muslims. The Hindu group first runs away from the Muslim group. Then the Hindu group unites and runs after the Muslim group. The basic lesson shared through the video is that if Hindus unite, they can finish Muslims.
Interestingly, these Facebook pages do not have BJP’s name or election symbol. But their posts highlight BJP’s communal agenda. Since all the posts are paid for means that Facebook is making money while spreading them. The study also states that the mobile numbers, websites, and address provided on the pages were fake and didn’t exist.
Compared to BJP, other parties have barely spent any money on social media for paid advertisements. The Supreme Court’s order says that the code of conduct and election rules apply to social media as well. But it seems that the Election Commission has given BJP a free reign to use shadow pages to spread communal hatred and polarize voters on religious grounds. A similar indifferent attitude is visible in the speeches of BJP politicians and ministers as well. Even after the implementation of the code of conduct, all the major BJP politicians including Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are polarizing the voters on religious grounds by delivering hateful and provocative speeches and asking for votes in the name of religion. Himanta Biswa Sarma is doing nothing but this. Despite numerous complaints made to the Chief Electoral Officer against this serious violation of the code of conduct, no action has been taken from his side. It seems that the Election Commission is working like BJP’s party office.
Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan reminds the Election Commission of its constitutional responsibility and dignity and demands the following:
- All shadow pages working for BJP should be closed immediately and legal action should be taken based on communal and divisive posts shared by them.
- Polarizing voters by silently spending lakhs on shadow accounts is economic and political corruption. The Election Commission should act against this corruption.
- The election commission must act on the complaints given by Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan.