BN cyber attack needs more ammunition, coordination

BN cyber attack needs more ammunition, coordination

by Zaidi Azmi

Written by Zaidi Azmi

KUALA LUMPUR – April 17, 2017: There is still much to be done if pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) cyber troopers and social media activists really want to help the ruling coalition best the opposition in the next general election.

This was the view expressed by several political bloggers in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call for them to help BN retain Putrajaya.

“We have long been in a defensive mode. Enough. It is now time to attack,” said Najib to hundreds of BN social media activists and cyber troopers at a get-together two days ago.

Agreeing that it was timely to do so, Lim Sian See said the attacks must be carried out on enemy territory which according to him are the comments section of opposition-friendly Facebook pages and news portals.

“BN has got enough content but the problem is the distribution of information. There is no point in creating contents if the message does not get out.

“Engage with the enemy in their debates and share the BN’s side of the story,” he wrote to The Mole.

Lim also reasoned that the attacks should be both factual and rhetorical as the combination of the two elements will increase the likelihood of wooing fence-sitters.

The attacks, argued another political blogger, A Voice, must be effectively coordinated, adding that seniors among bloggers and social media activists must regularly meet and discuss how to set the pace for others.

“Discard the bad habits of working for self-glory or chasing hits and followers by being too sensational. They should focus on articulating the issues at hand.

“They also need to get rid the habit of getting into petty quarrels because behaving rationally wins trust and confidence,” wrote the blogger who writes at Another Brick in The Wall.

Anti-BN blogger Syed Akbar Ali pointed out that A Voice was spot on when he highlighted the need for BN cyber troopers and social media activists to be civil, adding that the bulk of them were amateurish.

Commenting on Najib’s message, he said BN is actually making a big mistake in nurturing too many cyber troopers and social media activists.

“These small fries are inept. They don’t have the expertise to convincingly rebut arguments and all they’re good at are hurling insults, which does not help BN at all,” he said.

“Let’s assume that BN has 400 cyber troopers and social media activists whereby only a 100 are really skillful in cyberwarfare… now imagine how bad the damage the remaining 300 will do to BN’s image due to their ineptitude,” he remarked.