he protesters have a strong presence on other digital platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube as well to tell their side of the story directly to whoever is willing to listen.
AgenciesThe farmers say they were forced to develop a social media strategy as people opposed to their demands were spreading false news and propaganda online.
On December 30, just ahead of another round of talks between the farmers and the Centre over three contentious draft laws, a representative of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), Jagmohan Singh, took to Facebook Live to give Kisan Ekta Morcha’s followers a preview of the talks.
The Facebook page — one of the biggest online platforms being used by the protesting farmer groups — has become an authorised channel of sorts for them to disseminate information. It has garnered over 312,000 followers. The protesters have a strong presence on other digital platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube as well to tell their side of the story directly to whoever is willing to listen.
The farmers say they were forced to develop a social media strategy as people opposed to their demands were spreading false news and propaganda online. As news and rumours can spread fast over digital media, they had to become social media-savvy. So the hands that till farmlands started handling Twitter.
"The deft and successful way the farmer groups have handled the so-called battle of narratives has become a talking point."
— Well Planned
The deft and successful way the farmer groups have handled the so-called battle of narratives has become a talking point. They have been able to hold the fort at the Singhi border in Delhi, the epicenter of the protest, and at the virtual battlefront. The head of the “IT cell” of the farmers’ groups, Baljeet Singh Sandhu, says they have taken their opposition by surprise on the virtual front.
The protest, which started in Punjab and Haryana in August, got national and international attention after the farmers started marching towards Delhi in November. Twitter became the battleground in the early days of the protest. Sons and daughters of the protesting farmers started trending hashtags such as #SpeakUpForFarmers. But it became a more organised digital army of volunteers and full-timers when a news channel allegedly resorted to “deliberately photoshopping images from the rally to show foreign involvement in the protests,” says Sandhu.
“We were disappointed. We had to counter this. Overnight, we came up with the idea of our own IT cell. Once that happened, there was unanimous approval from all the groups. We had to keep the focus on the farm bills and tackle the false narratives at the same time,” he says, explaining why they chose to take the fight to the online space.
"We knew we had to counter the false narratives by putting out facts, which is what we have done in the last two weeks"
— Baljeet Singh Sandhu, VP of Majha Kisan Committee
This digital army comprises social mediasavvy farmers and volunteers with an IT background. It has a decentralised operation, with a core team of 40-45 volunteers under Sandhu, but still coordinates with most of the 50-odd farmer groups participating in the protest.
Since its launch on YouTube on December 16, the Kisan Ekta Morcha channel has got 1.22 million subscribers. The content is largely regular updates from organisers,fact-checking initiatives to counter falsehoods as well as performances by popular Punjabi artists.
Since the page was launched on Facebook on December 14, it has received 250,000 likes and 312,000 followers. “It is all organic. We set ourselves a target of reaching 1 crore people in a week. We do not monetise our page or our content, or even boost them,” Sandhu says, claiming that they have a collective reach of 18 million across platforms.
Music videos that seek to express farmers’ anguish with the farm bills have also helped to maximise the reach. Punjabi music videos are known to clock double-digit million views on platforms like YouTube.
A person closely associated with farmers’ IT strategy says, “The music videos serve multiple purposes — it informs, educates and entertains the viewer.”
Speaking on strict condition of anonymity, he points out that some videos have been downloaded and circulated on WhatsApp. “So we actually don’t know the actual reach but it is more than what is on YouTube. But it would be a dream come true for any IT cell to reach such a large population of viewers,” he adds.
What has also helped farmers more is that Punjab has a network of Facebook and You-Tube-based “news channels” or “digital channels”. These have given more coverage to the protests than the national channels. “A lot of these digital channels use our content because we only put out authentic information,” says Sandhu. “This is information people can trust. And we don’t claim copyright to the content.”
The Morcha has a team in Punjab that monitors and quickly debunks fake news and propaganda across social media. Members of the Morcha’s IT cell say they are “prepared” to deal with any kind of falsehoods their opponents come up with in the online space. “We knew about their tactics from Day 1. We also knew we had to counter this and put the facts out there, which is what we have done in the last two weeks,” says Sandhu.
The viewpoints of those opposing the agitation haven’t really filtered through this time around, says Shivam Shankar Singh, an independent political consultant. “The reason the anti-protest narrative isn’t working is because no one has been able to define the farmers. These narratives only work once the context is set for it, and is later reinforced.
In this case, that became difficult with the Sikhs and their traits of service and involvement in the army and so on,” Singh adds. As far as the protest’s success on the digital front is concerned, the farmers are reaping what they sowed.
Agencies
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