TikTok trumps flag wars: Malaysia’s parties battle on social media to woo young voters

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s main political parties are ramping up their social media presence to draw out young voters and fence sitters for

the general election on Saturday.

Using as many platforms as possible, the parties are working closely with social media influencers to campaign, as well as participating in trendy social media “challenges” in a bid to boost their engagements.

“Honestly, it’s easier to understand political issues now as more politicians are using social media platforms with the help of some influencers,” Nurul Syaline Ahmad, 19, a university student, told The Straits Times. “Complex issues for young voters like me to understand on our own were broken down and made easier to understand.”

“It gives us something to ponder and because of this, I’ve made up my mind on who to vote for,” she said.

Malaysia has

lowered the minimum

voting age to 18 from 21

, resulting in more than four million young voters – one-fifth of the electorate – being eligible to cast their ballots for the first time on Saturday.

This has led to a dramatic increase in the use of social media, especially by Malaysia’s three main coalitions – Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“Interestingly, social media has trumped all traditional campaigning methods, such as with posters, banners and flags,” Ilham Centre executive director Hisomuddin Bakar said.

“We don’t really see flag wars for this GE – the funds have been shifted to buying advertisements and engaging influencers on social media because the reach is larger and more effective,” he added.

PN has been aggressively campaigning via social influencers on TikTok, where 43 per cent of users are Gen Z.

Despite not having an official account, its chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin,

went viral for his participation in a challenge

to a song by Singaporean singer Alyph called Swipe, which garnered more than 324,700 likes.

In the 15-second clip, he is seen “swiping” other coalitions as a sign of rejection, and “liking” only his alliance for being “clean and stable”.

The coalition appears to be reaping the rewards of shifting its election campaigns online. A recent survey by pollster Merdeka Center found growing support for PN among Malay respondents, especially among those aged 18 to 20, after nomination day on Nov 5.

It said 35 per cent of ethnic Malays – Malaysia’s majority race – preferred PN, with a “strengthening of preference” for Mr Muhyiddin.

Meanwhile, a study by Milieu Insight found that Facebook – where BN is most active – remains the main platform for Malaysians aged 35 to 44 to get their news about politics or election-related matters.

It said Instagram is popular among those aged 18 to 24 (49 per cent) and 25 to 34 years old (49 per cent), while those aged 45 to 54 mainly rely on radio (55 per cent), news websites (53 per cent) and newspapers (34 per cent).

“There should be a TikTok war because the trend has shifted to TikTok, but PN dominates the platform because it is not utilised much by PH and BN,” said Mr Hisomuddin. “Due to this, PN managed to penetrate a large market of voters – young, new and first-timers.”

Commenting on BN, Mr Hisomuddin said it has the weakest social media presence compared to the other coalitions.

“I’m not sure why BN is not aggressive, and weak on social media,” he said. “This GE should’ve been theirs – they were the party who decided when to dissolve Parliament, but in terms of campaigning, they’re far behind.”