Lok Sabha 2024: The influencers driving India’s big election
Just before the commencement of this year’s Indian election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spotted at an event in Delhi mingling with personalities known by monikers such as BeerBiceps and Curly Tales.
The occasion, an awards ceremony honoring some of the nation’s foremost social media figures for their contributions, marked a recognition of the influencer’s burgeoning influence, a concept that not long ago seemed improbable.
As political contenders geared up to vie for India’s vast electorate, these influencers were being strategically positioned to engage with the youth, the apathetic, and the disillusioned.
Yet, amidst the celebrations of social media’s democratization of information dissemination – a platform where anyone can freely express their opinions – there lurks a darker narrative, one fraught with threats and the potential compromise of truth for monetary gain.
A mere decade ago, the term “influencer” would have drawn puzzled looks, but today, according to Vinay Deshpande, co-founder of Rajneethi, a political consultancy firm, it has evolved into a full-fledged profession.
“It’s now a viable livelihood,” asserts Deshpande. “I’ve encountered teenagers engaging in this as a means to earn supplementary income.”
While the term “pocket money” may downplay the potential earnings, the reality is substantial. At the entry-level, individuals might command around 2,000 rupees ($24; £19) per day, whereas top-tier influencers could net up to 500,000 rupees for a single post – equivalent to the monthly salary of a high-ranking executive.
The creator of the Ranting Gola channel disclosed to the BBC instances where political parties and election management entities have offered between 100,000 to 500,000 rupees for a solitary campaign.
Such sums are not inconsequential; indeed, they possess the capacity to sway the outcome in a candidate’s favor.
Deshpande recounts how they aided an opposition candidate in winning an assembly election by disseminating content through a meticulously chosen cadre of local influencers boasting modest yet engaged followings.
“Social media content wields significant influence over individual perspectives,” observes Deshpande. “It bestows social validation upon beliefs or opinions, yet this can sometimes stifle critical thinking on pertinent issues.”
Preethi Aggarwal, 25, is one of those who turns to apps like Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to help her understand the news.
Like thousands of others, Ms. Aggarwal follows a bunch of “political influencers”, or people who talk about politics on social media to “really understand what’s going on”.
“News can get boring and complicated sometimes. I think these people [influencers] make it fun and easier to understand,” she says, adding the context and their perspective helps her form her opinions.
But the problem is, whose perspective is she getting?
YouTuber Samdish Bhatia reveals numerous politicians have reached out to him, especially in the months before this election, offering him millions of rupees to interview them.
“But they wanted me to share questions in advance or get the video approved before it’s published,” he says, adding that he declined the offers because he “likes to maintain editorial control”.
The particular trend for longer form, slightly chummy interviews – where politicians get to show off their human side – is particularly vulnerable to management, says Joyojeet Pal, an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
“Many of these interviews are carefully managed by politicians,” Mr Pal says.
But even if they aren’t, a gentler style of questioning can also blur the line between interview and promotion, says Mr Pal.
“If your questions aren’t holding power to account, then the interview just becomes a platform for easy publicity.”
But for Mr Pal, this is just one of the problems he sees with politics on social media.
In a recent research paper, he examined some of India’s top influencers and who they interviewed, finding BJP leaders were featured more often than opposition leaders.
His research also found an overall drop in the number of accounts posting content critical of the incumbent government in recent years, while the amount of pro-BJP content had increased.
“This hints at a growing hesitancy among people to be openly critical of the government whereas there seems to be more confidence in putting up polarising content or content that supports the government’s ideologies,” Mr Pal says.
“And this is dangerous for democracy,” he adds.
A number who post content that’s critical of the government declined to speak to the BBC for this piece citing fear of repercussions by the government. They also run their channels under pseudonyms to keep their identities secret.
The Ranting Gola told the BBC that she has often received comments that are abusive or threatening because of the videos she posts and that her Instagram account has been disabled numerous times, even though the platform hasn’t given her a clear reason for doing so.
She also only spoke to the BBC on the condition that her name not be revealed.
The BJP government has denied allegations that it has clamped down on dissent and free speech.
But even pro-BJP YouTuber Sham Sharma told the BBC that freedom of speech could be a problem in India:
But even given these concerns, opposition parties are using the same influencer system to reach voters in what they say is a difficult environment.
“The mainstream media has been taken over by the BJP,” alleges Supriya Srinate, who heads social media for the Congress party.
“Our funds have been frozen; we have no money to advertise,” she adds, referring to action taken by India’s tax department weeks before the elections.
Congress leaders have accused the government of political vendetta, but the government has denied the allegation and said that the federal department was doing its job independently.
Influencers, Ms Srinate argues, are a good way to reach voters as a result of these alleged hurdles, explaining the Congress has been working with “volunteers” who believe in the party’s ideology and want to share its work on social media.
Ankit Lal, the former political advisor of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), agrees that influencers have helped democratize the publicity landscape.
Akash Banerjee, a former journalist who runs the YouTube channel, The DeshBhakt, argues that influencers are also able to push boundaries more than the traditional media can.
He cites the video ‘Is India becoming a dictatorship?’ – made by popular content creator Dhruv Rathee, who is based in Germany – which takes on the government directly, and has been viewed about 24 million times on YouTube so far. The government hasn’t reacted to the video yet.
“After the video, the term ‘dictatorship’ has popped up more in conversations, and this is something that has never happened before,” Mr Banerjee says.
“Our job as influencers may not be to open the window and check if it’s raining, but we owe it to the nation to take a look outside the window and let people know if dark clouds are approaching and that they can do something about it by voting.”
