Online Political Engagement in Southeast Asia

Online political engagement in Southeast Asia

This event was streamed live on Wednesday 23 October as part of the 2019 Digital Politics seminars series

Southeast Asia is the most social media active region in the world yet our understanding of online political participation is still in its infancy. Elections often see online political participation peak as political parties launch full-scale social media campaigns in their contest to win the hearts and minds of voters. How do political parties engage with social media users and what do users actually do online during election campaigns? What accounts for a successful social media campaign?

Based on survey results and Facebook analysis of political engagement during the campaign periods of four elections in Southeast Asia: the Philippines (2016), Malaysia (2018), Thailand (2019) and Indonesia (2019), this seminar argued that pre-existing online and offline support base is crucial to the success of a political candidate’s social media campaign regardless of candidate’s input. It also touched upon the issues of online disinformation and trust in social media information and why they vary both within a country and across countries.

Presenter

Dr Aim Sinpeng

Dr Aim Sinpeng
University of Sydney

Dr Aim Sinpeng is a Lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. She is also the co-founder of the Sydney Cyber Security Network and the Thailand Coodinator of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. She has published widely on Thai politics and is currently working on a project on fake news and politics in Southeast Asia.