A month before the House of Representatives elections, some prominent Facebook pages have been seen to be spreading content related to a single political party with greater priority. Kantipur has conducted a comparative study of 4,754 pieces of content published by 24 such Facebook pages during the one-month period from December 23, 2025 to January 22, 2026.

Of which, 2,447 are political content. 54 percent, or 1,324, are related to the National Independent Party (NISP). While content related to the Congress and UML, the major parties in the dissolved parliament, is not even half of that. The content of such Facebook pages often emphasizes person-centered, emotional images and symbolic content, ignoring policy debate.  

Facebook's research has mentioned that exactly such content is designed to be promoted by algorithms. Some of these posts also use AI-generated photos of RSP leaders. A page called 'KTM Post' posted a photo with the caption 'Balen-Ravi's tears could not stop, Gen-G suddenly had a problem and went to meet him, let's all write Get Well Soon'. Another photo posted an hour later shows people who look like RSP President Ravi Lamichhane and senior leader Balendra Shah pointing fingers, while someone who looks like UML Chairman KP Oli appears to be folding his hands in apology. The caption reads, ‘Oli got scared when Balen and Ravi said he would be jailed, comment if it’s right or wrong.’ 

Another photo posted at 12:27 pm on the same day shows people who look like outgoing Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba folding their hands. The photo reads, ‘Ravi and Balen took Deuba’s place after the meeting, let’s comment if it’s right or wrong to put Deuba in jail.’ The next morning at 9:15 am, a photo of a person who looks like Ravi and Ashika Tamang crying near a person who looks like a patient in the hospital was posted, and it was written, ‘Ravi and Ashika Tamang cried profusely after meeting Jen-ji, let’s all write Get Well Soon.’ In another photo posted 3 hours later, a person who looks like Ravi and Balen is seen threatening a person who looks like Oli. It reads, ‘Ravi-Balen have the same voice – we will not leave the jail without going to jail, let’s comment if both of them are right or wrong.’

When Kantipur tested these photos using the ‘AI Detection Tool’, it was confirmed that 99.9 percent of them were created by AI. These pages do not appear to be officially affiliated with any political party. A study of the content posted on locally popular pages such as the popular 'Routine of Nepal Band' on social media, 'Troll Pokhara' with 725,000 followers, and 'Nepalgunj Gallery' with 178,000 followers shows that they publish information on daily activities, educational information, humor, and entertainment content. 

A 'content analysis' of these pages shows that RSP-centric content dominates. But whether this is natural enthusiasm, planned strategy, or the algorithm's inclination towards emotional content remains unanswered. The data shows more content supporting RSP, Balendra Shah, Ravi Lamichhane, and the election symbol Ghanti than the coverage of the two 'traditional' parties, Congress and UML.

Large public meetings, door-to-door campaigns, and policy debates that were considered important to solicit votes in previous elections have become social media-centric this time. In a time when ‘digital culture’ is dominant in obtaining information and forming opinions from the network, we have selected 24 Facebook pages based on three criteria: number of followers, ‘engagement’ and regular ‘posting’ activity. These pages show likes, comments, shares and effective interaction.

For each page, Kantipur has analyzed the last 200 posts and tried to find content classification, thematic trend identification and political context through AI-based tools. During the analysis, posts related to ‘emoji’ that look like election symbols of parties, candidates and parties have been classified as political. Posts with party leaders and election symbols have been ‘coded’ as content of the respective parties. Our analysis method identifies the trends of the published content but does not reveal the relationship, intentions, coordination or involvement of the page operators with political parties.

Out of the 192 pieces of content published by the Facebook page ‘Alternative for Nepal’ during the study period, 181 (945) appear to be related to politics. Of these, about 605 are focused on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Balen or Ravi. The page appears to have used the RSS election symbol and the ‘bell emoji’ in many posts. ‘KTM Post’, which has 147,000 followers, appears to have posted 161 posts. Of these, 111 are related to the RSS, 6 to the UML, 3 to the Congress and one to another political party. 37 of the posts appear to be non-political. ‘The Nepali Favor’, which posts content mostly focused on ‘mims’, appears to have posted 200 posts during the study period. Of these, 135 (685) are related to politics, with words like ‘Balen Shah’ and ‘Ravi Lamichhane’ being the main ‘keywords’. 

Similarly, ‘Routine of Nepal Bandh’, which has about 5 million followers, has posted 200 posts between 17-23 January. Of these, 99 (49.55) are political content. The remaining 101 (50.55) are non-political content. Political posts are dominated by content related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSSV). The page has frequently repeated keywords such as ‘Balen Shah’, ‘Ravi Lamichhane’ and ‘RSSV Youth Candidates’. While 11 (5.55) content related to the Congress, 10 (55) related to the UML, and 4 (25) related to the NCP have been posted from this page, 32 (165) content related to the RSSV has been posted.

‘These are very emotional times,’ says AI expert Dobhan Rai, ‘people are making decisions based on their gut feelings, which are further amplified by algorithms.’ Rai says that algorithms, like a businessman, develop ‘intuition’ from data and spread what sells or goes viral. Content that evokes an emotional response on such pages, especially anger, inspiration or worrying content, seems to be more ‘engaging’ than neutral content.

In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents that revealed that Facebook’s algorithms prioritized content that generated “anger.” Based on the leaked documents, the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report called “Facebook Files” in September 2021.

The trend identified by Kantipur in Nepal is similar to that seen in elections around the world. Research on Facebook’s role in elections in the Philippines, India, and Myanmar has shown that personally focused, emotionally charged political content is more engaging than policy debate. “Nepal is even more at risk because we have neither an alarming system nor effective institutions to stop such things,” Rai says. 

In Myanmar, UN investigators concluded that Facebook’s algorithms promoted hate speech and propaganda, contributing to increased violence against Rohingya Muslims. Then in 2018, the company admitted that it had not taken enough steps to prevent its platform from being used for content that “incites division and incites offline violence.”

The 95,000-follower “Miss Pabi 41” page posted a photo of YouTuber Bhojraj Thapa lying sick in a hospital bed on January 15. In it, Rashtrapati Bhavan President Lamichhane is seen crying with his arms folded next to him, and Shah is seen holding Thapa’s hand. The caption reads, “Ravi and Balen woke up in the morning and went to meet Bhojraj Thapa. Everyone write ‘Get well soon.’” Most of the comments also write ‘Get well soon.’ But this photo is also AI-generated.

Many pages have also shared misinformation, including AI-generated photos and false claims that Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has been chased by the public or that UML President Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak have been detained by the police. Some posts also feature videos that appear to show people chasing NCP coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal. 

Fact-checking journalist Deepak Adhikari also confirmed that unverified AI-generated content is being posted by such pages. He said, “These pages are at the forefront of spreading false information.” Among the pages analyzed, the most influential one, ‘Routine of Nepal Bandh’, seems to be more inclined towards a large group of youth supporters. Among them, there are those who support Balen in Jhapa and want to see Oli defeated. This page posted a notice about a girl being hit by a vehicle at 10:33 am on September 6, 2025. The post read, “Just in: In Harisiddhi, Lalitpur, the public has been blocking the road since morning because a provincial minister’s car hit a child and ran away.” Another notice was published 37 minutes later. The then Prime Minister Oli's photo read, 'Leaders walk without stopping when people are hit by cars and the Prime Minister says 'normal' and pulls over: Regarding the recent accident in Harisiddhi, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said, 'A girl was hit by a car as normal. She has been taken to the hospital. There was no such intention.'

On 22 Magh, a four-year-old girl, Alpha Khatun, died after being hit by a car with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sticker in Rautahat. In that incident too, 'Routine of Nepal Bandh' posted 'sad news' at 5:14 pm on 5 February, saying, 'Sad news: A child playing on the road has died after being hit by a car in Rautahat. Further investigation is underway. News source: ZIPRA, Rautahat.' But unlike the incident on 21 Bhadra, the information was not posted in another post, but rather edited the old post and added the information. 22 minutes after the first information was posted, the post was edited and added, '...Further investigation is underway. Update: We have learned from the District Police Office, Rautahat that the vehicle that caused the accident was found empty and had a RSVP sticker on it. The driver has now been taken into custody by the police.’ Exactly 50 minutes later, the post was edited for the third time and said, ‘The driver has been taken into custody by the police.’

The page was criticized for posting information in different ways on the same incident. However, ‘Routine of Nepal Bandh’ has said that they do not provide ‘selective information’ to benefit any candidate or party. ‘We do not post selectively and have not supported any party or candidate,’ said Victor Poudel, the founder of the page. ‘The reason why Balen’s posts have received so much attention is because of the high engagement seen in his posts.’

All the pages tested by Kantipur for analysis prioritized political commentary. ‘Kemyag Nepal’, founded by Lakshya Sapkota, claims to provide general news and updates on daily activities, but is feeding its 103,000 followers with content that is clearly ideological. According to ‘Page Transparency’, one of the ‘admins’ of this page appears to be based in Australia.

Of the 200 posts examined between January 1 and 22, 129 are directly related to politics. In which institutional reforms, rule of law, open market thinking, personal freedom and informed voting are often discussed. The page seems to have given special importance to Congress President Thapa. He is portrayed as ‘the most reformist, liberal and forward-looking leader within the Congress’ and ‘a representative figure of the young generation who can make change possible within the old parties’. However, ‘Balen Shah’ and ‘Ravi Lamichhane’ are frequently mentioned ‘keywords’ on this page too. Although there is no clear propaganda from the party, the bell ‘emoji’ is indirectly repeated on many pages. But there is no evidence that the ‘admins’ of any of the pages studied by Kantipur are publicly affiliated with the RSVP. 

However, the collective promotion of the same message on these pages certainly raises some questions. Is the RSVP benefiting from an ‘organic digital ecosystem’ of supporters spontaneously producing favorable content? Is Facebook’s algorithm prioritizing emotional and person-centered content that matches the RSVP’s brand? And can ‘traditional parties’ compete without adopting a similar strategy? Adhikari says, ‘A narrative war is going on on social media using AI-generated images and videos.’ According to him, such content can even influence the outcome of the election. “There has been no systematic study on this in Nepal yet, so it may be premature to draw firm conclusions,” he said, “but the style and intensity of election campaigns on social media are clearly increasing.”

“Traditional political parties” say they are trying to adapt to the digital environment, but they have limited resources. UML’s publicity department head Min Bahadur Shahi says, “We are producing TikToks and short video content to communicate with the Gen-G generation. We plan to engage them on anti-corruption issues and various global indices,” he said. Shahi claims that UML’s digital campaign is “organic.” “All the work we are doing in the digital campaign is completely voluntary. They are not a paid team. We have not paid money to Meta, nor have we spent money to boost any posts,” he added.

The Congress has also been operating a 15-member media team, which handles video editing and news writing. ‘We work on content production by creating various photos, videos and clips according to the party’s agenda,’ says Jeevan Bhandari, coordinator of the media center. ‘Our main focus is on Facebook, but there is also a strong intellectual community on TikTok and X.’ Similarly, the NCP has also prioritized combating misinformation and AI-generated content, said party spokesperson Agni Sapkota. ‘Most of the colleagues are working voluntarily,’ said Sapkota.

There is a big difference between what the ‘traditional parties’ describe and Kantipur’s analysis. Although the UML has launched a digital campaign targeting Gen-G and the Congress has a 15-member media team, only 19 percent of their political posts are visible on the analyzed pages. In this way, it seems that the RSP occupies 4 out of 5 parts, while the Congress, UML and NCP together occupy only 1 out of 5 parts. 

The RSP is conducting a ‘digital campaign’ by forming different campaign committees according to the center, district and candidate, said party spokesperson Manish Jha. “There are 2/3 teams working at the center, and an election mobilization committee has been formed in the district,” Jha said. He said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) did not pay any page to post content. “We did not contract the pages to post our content.” They helped themselves, Jha said. When asked by Kantipur why emotional content and misinformation were prioritized, he said that they provided content according to the people’s wishes but did not promote misinformation.

Another thing that is not yet clear is how much social engagement and online support for a single party translates into voting. Kantipur has been talking to various voters in Kathmandu over the past few months about social media usage and sources of political information. Neerajan Khadka, 48, who runs a grocery store in Anamnagar, has not read any party manifesto, nor has he watched the candidates’ debates. But he has spent hours scrolling through Facebook every morning to determine his vote. “These days, it’s fun to watch the candidates’ antics during the campaign. Maybe it’s because I watch a lot of such things that I see the same thing over and over again.”

Prakash Bishwakarma, a 28-year-old hotelier from Thapagaun, also sees a similar trend. “I also see candidates from other parties, but I see more content from the more bell-shaped candidates,” he said. But Purna Bahadur Basnet, a 56-year-old ‘fancy shop’ owner, is unhappy with the repeated posts. “In the current situation, the RSVP candidates are constantly appearing in my feed. If I could remove them, I would remove them,” he said. 

Facebook’s parent company ‘Meta’ is facing growing doubts about the impact of its platform on elections worldwide, especially in countries outside the US. Towards the end of 2024, Meta said that it had formed a ‘dedicated team’ to ensure election integrity. This includes members from ‘intelligence’, data science, engineering, research, content and public policy and legal teams. “We have operated various election operation centers around the world, which have helped us monitor and respond to issues quickly, including major elections in the US, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, the European Parliament, France, the UK, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil,” Meta said in its note. 

But critics say Meta has focused its teams on Western and large markets, ensuring minimal monitoring in smaller countries like Nepal. The Election Commission of Nepal also writes formal letters to relevant agencies to remove content that violates the election code of conduct on social media. “The commission recommends action to the Cyber ​​Bureau of Nepal Police and the Nepal Telecommunication Authority, after which the bureau contacts the relevant platforms or organizations to remove the flagged content,” said Sita Pun Srish, assistant spokesperson for the Election Commission.

According to Srish, as of February 20, the Cyber ​​Bureau has proposed to remove 290 pieces of content found on social media. Of these, 107 have been removed. Most of the content removed was on TikTok, while the number of posts removed on Facebook is negligible.