Johor polls: Barisan using FB, TikTok to reach out to voters, says Dr Adham

JOHOR BARU: Barisan Nasional will be using social media, particularly Facebook and TikTok, to disseminate its campaign materials in the upcoming Johor state election.

Johor Umno information chief Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba (pic) said that a meeting has been held with all 26 Barisan division information machinery to discuss election preparations.

“As we know, there will be a significant increase in the number of new voters in this election. This does not just include young voters between 18 and 20 years old but also other new voters that have not registered to vote before this,” said Dr Adham.

He said that this means that Johor Umno needs to ensure all information would reach the people smoothly, including campaign materials.

“We will be using all social media platforms as widely as possible, especially Facebook and TikTok that have been popular among the people,” he added.

Dr Adham said this after chairing a meeting with Barisan’s information machinery at the state Umno building here. Also present was Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah.

Dr Adham added that the methods and strategies that would be used in spreading information in this election would most likely be similar to that in the previous Melaka state election.

“However, for hard to reach places, we hope to be able to station some of our election agents to help provide information to voters, particularly new voters,” he said.

Dr Adham added that Johor Umno will wait for the Election Commission (EC) to provide the standard operating procedure (SOP) for this election to see whether such a move can be made.

“For now, the Barisan information machinery is ready to take on the election and currently there are about 260 people involved from all components parties, including MIC and MCA,” he said.

He also noted that Barisan would also be providing information in various languages to reach out to more voters.

“There are not many obstacles in reaching out to the public through social media so far. However, previously Johor Umno Puteri’s TikTok account was reported a total of 10 times. The reports were made between the Melaka polls time and the recent floods,” he said.

“As a result, the account was banned for a few days and this has halted information flow. We will urge the relevant authorities such as the EC and the Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to look into the matter,” added Dr Adham.