CPM to use social media influencers to promote Kerala government initiatives

Kollam: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) is set to promote the Kerala state government’s achievements and party ideology through social media influencers. The strategy involves subtly incorporating pro-government and party-aligned messaging into popular content produced by influencers across various fields such as agriculture, industry, arts, travel, cooking, and food.

Sources indicate that while the initiative began on a limited scale, it is expected to be significantly expanded by June.

Influencers have reportedly been instructed not to engage in direct political discourse or attack the opposition. For instance, travel vloggers will highlight the quality of Kerala’s roads and mention recent renovations of Public Works Department rest houses. Similarly, short videos on topics like agriculture, education, and industry will include references to relevant government schemes.

Both party-affiliated and unaffiliated influencers are being enlisted for the campaign, with remuneration offered for their participation. Content creation will be supported by appointed experts in each district, also on a paid basis. These efforts are in addition to the existing district-level new media committees, although the local party committees will not exercise control over this new initiative.

This method has previously been used to counter opposition narratives, such as disputes over the credit for the Vizhinjam port project. Content created by the state-level new media team, led by M.V. Nikeshkumar, will be disseminated via social media influencers without overt political branding.

CPM has made all preparations to strengthen the new media campaign centered at the old AKG Centre. Party-favourable news snippets and videos appearing in the media will be circulated immediately. Counter-arguments for news placing the party in a defensive position will also be prepared immediately and provided to the grassroots level.