COMMENT | Last week, I attended a panel discussion on “Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia” at Monash University Malaysia, organised by the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Digital Tech and Society. 

Based on Canadian-based researcher and academic Merlyna Lim’s book of the same title, the panellists were Siti Nurliza from the Sinar Project, Article 19 activist Nalini Elumai, Stefan Bachtold from Monash University, and Gayathry Venkiteswaran from the University of Nottingham Malaysia.

They spoke mainly about how politics in the region has been influenced by the development of social media. Many politicians and political parties in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have been pioneers in how social media is used as propaganda to influence the people and the way they vote.

The methods used range from having cybertroopers, paying influencers, and just control of branding and image. It is interesting to listen to Lim note that many...