Parties and groups such as the Dynamic Democratic Party, Birendra Bahadur Basnet's Secretariat, Shree Gurung, Ujyalo Nepal Official, Sunil Kumar Sharma, RSP Coverage, Bhupendra Rai, Manish Kumar Sah, and others are continuously posting 'sponsored content' on Facebook.
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Ever since the interim government led by Sushila Karki announced the House of Representatives elections on 21 Falgun after the Gen-G uprising last Bhadra, several aspirants and parties had started campaigning on social media. The details of the expenditure on political advertisements in the last 90 days through platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, Messenger are interesting.
Looking at the data from 3 Kartik to 10 Pus, the National Change Party has spent the most on Facebook advertising. This party, which merged with Ujjaya Nepal on 1 Magh, has been doing paid advertising through its pages opened in the name of Gen-G United Movement and district branches.
Dynamic Democratic Party, Birendra Bahadur Basnet's secretariat, Shri Gurung, Ujjaya Nepal Official, Sunil Kumar Sharma, RSP Coverage, Bhupendra Rai, Manish Kumar Sah and others are continuously posting 'sponsored content' on Meta.
In the last three months, the most political content has been posted on the main Facebook page of Dynamic, 39 from the Okhaldhunga branch of Parivartan Party, 30 from the main page of Parivartan Party itself, 24 from the main page of Parivartan Party itself, and 18 from the party's Gen-G Movement United. Even after the party was unified, Parivartan Party has been posting 'sponsored content' on the Meta platform in the last 7 days.
The National Change Party, formed in November under the chairmanship of Rajesh Portel, who lost his right leg during the Gen-G movement, has spent the most, $1,199, on its main page alone, in the last three months to promote its activities. The party's Okhaldhunga branch has spent $240, Gen-G United $427, and Panchthar branch $100, totaling about $2,360 (about Rs. 337,000).
On the eve of the elections, this party merged with the Ujjala Nepal Party, chaired by Kulman Ghising, and has now changed its name to 'Ujjala Nepal Party-UNP' on Facebook. After the alliance with the National Independent Party (NISP) broke down, Ujjala had merged with the National Change Party to update the proportional list.
Like National Change, Ujjala Nepal Official has also shown a strong presence in digital propaganda, spending $464 in the last 90 days. Now that these two parties have merged, it is easy to predict that the spending on social media will increase. Meta's Ad Library report states that Ujjaya spent $100 or less on an advertisement from its Makawanpur branch page in the last 30 days.
The second-highest number of advertisers on the Meta platform is the Dynamic Democratic Party. This party has posted 39 advertisements for $1,106 in the last three months. The three currently active 'paid content' present the party's concepts on plans to become self-reliant in agriculture, from tourism promotion. This party, formed by Buddha Air Executive Chairman Birendra Bahadur Basnet, has spent $142 on the Meta platform for advertising in the last 30 days alone.
Basnet is also campaigning for the election from the party's official page and his personal secretariat page. From the page in his secretariat's name, Basnet has spent $630 on 16 'sponsored content' in the last three months. During the same period, another advertisement was placed without a 'disclaimer' at a cost of $100 or less.
Mr. Gurung, who had previously run as an independent candidate for the post of member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-5 for the first time in 2079, is a founding member of Ujjaya Nepal this time. Gurung, who had spent Rs. 282 on Facebook for a single vote last time, seems to be putting in a lot of effort in digital campaigning this time too.
He has posted 11 advertisements at a cost of $489 in the last 90 days. Gurung, who came third with 2,761 votes in the previous election, had spent $5,968 (about Rs. 779,000 at the exchange rate at that time) on social media. This time too, he has registered his candidacy from Kathmandu-5.
The 'Citizens for Voting Nepal' page, which introduced itself as an initiative run by citizens to increase voter literacy and is not affiliated with the government or any party, has spent $417 (about Rs. 59,000) on a single advertisement. The content, which ran from November 5 to 7, featured an 'ad graphic' that allowed voters to register online using their national identity cards. Sunil Kumar Sharma, a medical professional who registered his candidacy in Morang-3 on behalf of the Nepali Congress, has spent $289 on three advertisements in the last 90 days. A page named 'RSP Coverage Yugesh' has spent $230. The strategy adopted by this page seems to be somewhat misleading. Despite its name of providing comprehensive coverage of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSP), its main activity is focused on promoting specific candidates.
Advertisements for the last 7 days
The details provided by Meta for the 7 days, i.e. from December 27 to January 3, show a slight decrease in the spending rate. This week, the Rastriya Parivartan Party has spent $330. Ganesh Karki and Prem Kumar Tamang, who have put themselves forward as candidates, have run advertisements without a 'disclaimer'. NCP leader Jhalanath Khanal and RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden have also had advertisements on Facebook.
Khanal has said that he will not contest the 21 Falgun elections. He says that the constituency from which he has been contesting has left the youth behind this time. Dr. Pushpamani Kharel and RK Singh Parag's secretariat, Ammar Pariyar Arya and E. Deepak Karna have run small-scale advertisements. Sunil Kumar Sharma, Manraj Gurung and Shree Gurung have also spent a little this week. Sita Dhungana and Kamal Koirala have posted small advertisements.
It is not only political parties that are doing advertisements, various foundations and organizations have also advertised during the election. A page called 'Faith and Hope' has run 2 advertisements for less than $100 without a disclaimer. 'No Filter' has run 17 advertisements, but the expenditure has not exceeded $100. Ujjwal Thapa Foundation and Kantipur Conclave have also run advertisements on social issues. Some news agencies from China, Pakistan and Thailand have been seen to have targeted Nepal. Pages like CGTN Hindi and Pakistan Sweet Home are included in this.
Most of the advertisements are run without proper disclaimers. The Election Commission is taking stricter measures on the transparency of advertisements this time. Although the expenditure on social media advertisements is small, its impact is large and it can be reached to the target constituency, class, and gender, so it is taken seriously.
The Commission had tried to regulate it by collaborating with technology companies like Meta and TikTok in the 2079 local elections. Since then, Facebook has included Nepal in its ad library and started providing details of political, social, and election-related advertisements from here, as well as the expenditure on them. This time too, the Commission has taken forward the process of collaboration. This collaboration is being sought to discourage and control false, misleading information, and hate speech in particular.
With the registration of direct nominations on 6th Magh, there is sure to be a flood of advertisements. Parties and candidates will increase their budgets further in the future. Information technology expert Dobhan Rai says that there are both ethical and unethical trends in the way political parties and candidates present themselves on digital platforms. According to her, social media has brought a kind of democratization to elections. Digital platforms have become a more accessible and less expensive medium for new candidates compared to the traditional way of going door-to-door or campaigning physically.
‘However, some candidates are found to use third parties to make fake comments, buy likes, and create fake accounts,’ Rai said. ‘This creates an artificial atmosphere on social media and seeing many likes can give the impression that the candidate has more influence on the general public. There is also a risk of mobilizing their supporters to discredit the opposition party or candidate and spreading negative messages.’
Rai expressed concern about incidents of violence and harassment using technology during elections, especially against women and candidates of different genders. He believes that instead of debating their issues, there are attempts to dismiss women candidates by spreading rumors about their personal lives or gender. He suggests that those who are financially strong can boost their presence by spending more on digital advertising, and that such expenses should also be included within the spending limits set by the Election Commission.
