How TikTok, Facebook, And YouTube Are Influencing Bangladesh Election Narratives?
“The days of boat, the sheaf of paddy, and the plough have ended; the scales will now build Bangladesh”, these words are on the go while Bangladesh is preparing itself for the new political dawn. The song is a political anthem supportive of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami party that went viral on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok in early November.
The song speaks of symbols of parties that have governed Bangladesh: The boat symbolises Awami League (AL) of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted in August 2024; the sheaf of paddy symbolises Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and plough the election symbole of the Jatiya Party, a former ally of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, founded by the military ruler in 1980s.
While the Jamaat’s symbol is scales.
The country is set to vote on February 12, which is seen as a direct contest between the BNP and the Jammat-led alliance.
Voters will also decide on a referendum on the July National Charter, a reform package the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says must be endorsed to institutionalise changes in the state institutions introduced after the 2024 July uprising.
The campaign on the ground starts on Thursday, January 22. But parties have been battling the online campaign for months now, trying to woo Gen Z voters who played a key role to overthrow Hasina government and will determine the future of Bangladesh.
The pro-Jamaat songs online popularity has sparked a race among other parties to launch songs to reach millions of voters via social media.
The BNP came up with its campaign song, with lyrics suggesting that the party puts the country itself. “Amar agey amra, amader agey desh; khomotar agey jonota, shobar agey Bangladesh [Us before ourselves, the country before us; people before power, Bangladesh above all],” the song says.
The National Citizen Party, formed by students at the forefront of the anti-hasina protest during 2024, also came up with its song.
However, music is only a part of a wider digital push.
Short, dramatised videos, emotional voter interviews, policy explainers and satire have also flooded the social media spaces in Bangladesh.
The online war is projected as bigger than the parliamentary contest alone.
As per the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Bangladesh, had nearly 130 million internet users as of November 2025. While the country has approx 64 million Facebook users, nearly 50 million YouTube users, 9.15 million Instagram users and 56 million TikTok users aged 18 and above. X has relatively small footprint with 1.79 million users.
That digital reach, helps explain why political parties are investing heavily in online narratives.
Bangladesh authorities have banned the Awami League from political activities and from participating in the February election.
BNP has launched websites, including MatchMyPolicy.com, where voters can register agreement or disagreement with policy proposals.
Jamaat-e-Islami has also launched a website – janatarishtehar.org to seek the opinions of the voters to prepare election manifesto.
This year, the online battle is not limited to party-versus-party competition. It also centres on a state-backed referendum on a set of broad-based reforms outlined in what has come to be known as the July Charter, named after the uprising that led to Hasina’s removal.
