Strategic Dialogue and Exchange Program

SPF hosts Japanese experts to discuss social media's impact on politics in Southeast Asia and Japan

By Sofia Emina Takahashi, Communications Officer

April 2, 2025

On March 6, 2025, the Strategic Dialogue and Exchange Program of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) hosted an online event titled “The Spread of SNS and Changes in Democracy in the Politics of Southeast Asian Countries and Japan.” The event discussed the impact of social media in elections in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Japan, based on presentations given by five Japanese professors. They highlighted cases such as the 2023 Thai general election and the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, where social media influenced voter behavior and campaign strategies. Discussions also examined social media’s evolving role in Malaysian and Filipino politics, particularly its impact on younger voters and political campaigns.

Nobuyuki Konishi, Director of the Strategic Dialogue and Exchange Program at SPF, gave opening remarks emphasizing the connection between social media and election campaigns. “Social media can serve as pressure to increase transparency in politics and draw younger generations into election campaigns. On the other hand, it may hide the true arguments or policies of political parties and politicians which should form the very foundation of politics and induce an environment in which social division and populist, conformist policies spread easily,” he remarked.

Director Nobuyuki Konishi of the Strategic Dialogue and Exchange Program gave the opening remarks.

This event was held as part of the Asian Statespersons' Forum (ASF) project, which aims to foster mutual understanding and network building among political leaders from Japan and Southeast Asia. The project focuses on dialogue between young and mid-career political leaders who will be responsible for the next generation and holds an annual forum that brings together political leaders from Southeast Asian countries and Japan. The discussions at this seminar were also intended to feed into these dialogue activities, and before the professors gave their reports, the SPF program officers in charge of the project gave briefings on the current situation in each country.

The impact of social media on Thai politics

Professor Fumio Nagai from the Graduate School of Law and Political Science at Osaka Metropolitan University discussed the growing influence of social media on Thai politics.

The first speaker, Professor Fumio Nagai from the Graduate School of Law at Osaka Metropolitan University, focused on the spread of social media and its impact on Thai politics, particularly the 2022 Bangkok gubernatorial election and the 2023 general election.

First, he noted the significant increase in internet and mobile phone use in Thailand, with high rates in both urban and rural areas, including Northeast Thailand, which is said to be the poorest region in the country. In addition, Professor Nagai cited a government report showing that Thailand ranks 17^th in the world for social media usage, with users spending an average of 2.5 hours per day on these platforms.

Professor Nagai then examined how social media influenced recent elections in Thailand. He noted that in the 2022 Bangkok gubernatorial election, former Minister of Transport and independent candidate Chadchart Sittipunt secured a dramatic victory by utilizing social media more effectively than his competitors. His campaign focused on over 200 specific policies with a team composed of young members who ran a successful social media strategy to engage with voters.

Professor Nagai also explained that Thailand’s 2023 general election saw the Move Forward Party (MFP) emerging as the leading party largely due to its strategic use of social media by party leader Pita Limjaroenrat. Professor Nagai cited research indicating that social media played a decisive role in this election, distinguishing it from traditional campaigns that relied on direct voter interactions. “Other parties focused on shaking hands with voters directly and holding caucus meetings. MFP did not rely on those tactics. Yet, they were able to get the biggest number of votes thanks to social media,” he said. TikTok in particular had a major impact by reaching voters in rural areas who otherwise would have been excluded from campaign outreach efforts, which resulted in high view rates and ultimately won a large number of votes for the MFP.

The role of TikTok in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election

Professor Masaaki Okamoto from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University explored the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, with a particular focus on TikTok's role in the campaign.

The next presenter, Professor Masaaki Okamoto at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University, provided insights on the 2024 Indonesian presidential election and the role of TikTok during the campaign. Highlighting the platform's impact on Generation Z, Professor Okamoto revealed that 70% of young Indonesians use social media, including TikTok, as their primary information source and argued that this number will likely increase and spread in other age groups.

He then analyzed how the platform became a critical tool for the election victory of Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential election, explaining that the candidate was able to use TikTok to successfully rebrand himself to appeal to younger voters by starring in short videos dancing to bubbly background music, content that eventually went viral. “During the campaign between February 11, 2023, to February 10, 2024, the average weekly views of election-related TikTok videos were 2.1 billion, with Prabowo's content receiving 1.3 billion views or 62.6%, closely mirroring his eventual 60% electoral victory.”

As a result, Professor Okamoto noted that “perhaps TikTok is turning politics into entertainment and trivializing it,” in what he called “fast politics,” which is rapidly consumed with the aid of TikTok. However, he posited that videos which propose and explicate policies are also being viewed to a certain extent, and, therefore, it would be premature to conclude that politics as a whole is becoming entertainment. Concluding his analysis, he predicted that “TikTok’s popularity may decline in the next two to three years, but visually oriented social media and video-based platforms will continue to play a significant role in future elections.”

How social media transformed political communication in Malaysia

Professor Tsukasa Iga from Nagoya University’s Asian Satellite Campus Institute highlighted how social media is being utilized by political parties in Malaysia.

Designated Associate Professor Tsukasa Iga from the Asian Satellite Campus Institute at Nagoya University highlighted the fact that political parties in Malaysia have begun to use social media to exacerbate existing divisions between groups, including along ethnic and religious lines. In addition, Professor Iga noted that platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and TikTok are now being used as political tools alongside traditional media, giving the examples of the 2018 and 2022 general elections. “In Malaysia, social media has gradually expanded its spaces a battlefield for the ruling and opposition parties,” he stressed.

During the 2022 general election, social media tools played a significant role due to a surge in young voters, which was driven by a lowered voting age and automatic voter registration that was introduced in December 2021, and as a result the number of voters increased by 30% compared to the 2018 election. He said that the National Alliance (PN), which made significant gains in the 2022 election, “was intent on capturing these young voters and used TikTok and YouTube to create engaging video content with music, successfully appealing to young voters in their teens and 20s.” It was also stated that the paternalistic rebranded image of Muhyiddin, who leads the National Front (PN), spread through social networking services and influenced voting behavior in this election.

Professor Iga then went on to discuss the current situation of strengthened restrictions on the freedom of speech under the current “unity government,” including the Amendment of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA). He concluded that while there is a risk of ethnic and religious divisions in Malaysia spreading through social networking services, in Malaysia, where party politics is well established, social networking services are under a certain degree of control. As a result, no dramatic changes are expected, and democracy with regime change through elections is expected to continue.

Social media as a transformative force in Philippine politics

Professor Wataru Kusaka from the Graduate School of Global Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies presented on how social media has driven political transformation in the Philippines.

Professor Wataru Kusaka from the Graduate School of Global Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies gave a presentation focusing on the political transformation in the Philippines fueled by social media. He explained that since the 2010s, the voices of people who were originally marginalized have flooded social media. He argued that this behavior is related to a more general shift in the population in which a “new age formed populism” was posing “a fundamental challenge against the elite democracy.” He also stated that this change is due to the increasing number of Filipinos staying abroad including overseas workers such as nursing/caregiving and hospitality as Filipinos as New Age in a global society.

At the same time politicians began to hire advertising firms who then collaborated with influencers to disseminate organized propaganda on social media, which was a driving force during election campaigns. Professor Kusaka noted that while traditional liberal media attempted fact-checking these online narratives, their efforts were undercut by accusations of partisanship, making their initiative ineffective.

However, Professor Kusaka argued that people were not “brainwashed” by these online influence operations, but rather social media users tended to selectively engage with content that aligned with their own hopes or frustrations, and ultimately vote for candidates using this information. Professor Kusaka gave examples of current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose online image became one of a “national savior,” and former President Rodrigo Duterte, who was being portrayed as a “righteous outlaw.”

Japan’s traditional election system and social media

Professor Kazunori Kawamura from the Graduate School of Information Sciences at Tohoku University highlighted Japan's traditional election system and the strict legal limits on digital campaigning.

In his presentation on Japanese elections and social media, Associate Professor Kazunori Kawamura from the Graduate School of Information Sciences at Tohoku University revealed that Japan’s election system remains deeply traditional, with stringent legal restrictions significantly limiting digital campaign strategies. Barriers to digital adoption include a strong preference for human interaction over machine-based systems, language complexities, and a deeply ingrained cautious approach to digital communication.

Despite these limitations, emerging trends show some innovative candidates embracing social media, such as Shinji Ishimaru, who ran against Yuriko Koike in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in 2024. He successfully leveraged social media, gaining support from people in their teens and twenties. However, Professor Kawamura emphasized that this remains an isolated case and that Japan remains largely dependent on traditional media for political communication.

Kawamura ended his presentation by emphasizing the challenges of Japan’s election governance in this “video streaming era,” when information flows easily from overseas, stressing the importance of transforming its approach to digital political communication also from the perspective of economic security. “As the country with the oldest democracy in Asia, Japan has become something like Galapagos, totally out of line with the global standard. We have to identify the issues and think about our future challenges. There may be things we can learn from Southeast Asia. Now, the time has come,” he concluded.

Comparative discussion on social media’s political impact

In the final session, Professor Nagai moderated a discussion among the speakers, highlighting key comparative insights from the presentations on the five different countries. The discussion focused on the role of social media in political transformation, how its impact varies in different national contexts focusing on the differences in demographics, the opportunities for digital political engagement, and challenges related to election administration, deepfakes, and so forth.

The role of social media in political transformation and its varying impact in different national contexts, particularly concerning demographic differences, was analyzed in the final discussion.

References

Professor Fumio Nagai
Affiliation: Graduate School of Law, Osaka Metropolitan University
Topic: The spread of social networking services and changes in politics and government in Thailand - The Bangkok gubernatorial election in 2022, the general election in 2023, and the political awareness of Generation Z
PDF URL: R eference material

Professor Masaaki Okamoto
Affiliation: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
Topic: Is TikTok turning politics into entertainment and trivialising it? Prospects from the 2024 Presidential and Regional Head Elections in Indonesia
PDF URL: R eference material

Professor Tsukasa Iga
Affiliation: Asian Satellite Campus Institute, Nagoya University
Topic: Catalyst for democratisation or source of instability in governance? A quarter century of SNS and Malaysian politics
PDF URL: R eference material

Professor Wataru Kusaka
Affiliation: Graduate School of Global Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Topic: The Philippines - Hope and suffering of a ‘new birth’
PDF URL: R eference material

Professor Kazunori Kawakami
Affiliation: Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University
Topic: Have SNS surpassed old media? The situation in Japan as seen from the 2024 election
PDF URL: R eference material