On a (t)roll: PTI social media squad keeps control of govt Twitter, Facebook accounts

Insiders say new info dept head disbanded media cell but administrative reins remain with the party.

PESHAWAR: Members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) social media squad have taken over the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s Twitter and Facebook accounts after the information department closed its social media cell last month, sources said.

The issue arose following the appointment of a new director at the department. The social media cell, established by the outgoing head and manned by three volunteers, was shutdown. However, the information department was not given administrative controls of these accounts.

Looking for the like button

The Facebook account has a following of over 29,000 while the Twitter handle @kpgovt is being followed by a little less than 6,000 people.



Sources told The Express Tribune the information department’s IT section had asked the PTI volunteers to handover the accounts, something they never did.

Out there in twitterverse

Last month, @kpgovt tweeted the social media cell was winding down and a similar post was shared on the Facebook page. Both were removed later.

However, both accounts have reduced the frequency of their shares. The twitter account was last active on May 6 and while the Facebook account has had some posts, it was last regularly posting in May.

According to those familiar with the matter, the information department’s social media wing never existed on paper. The former director had provided a room within the directorate where the cell was functional for about four months.

“Volunteers collated the information department’s pictures, press releases and handouts pertaining to government activities and disseminated them on social media,” said one source.

Paper strategy

The PTI-led government had planned to set up a social media cell at an estimated cost of Rs230 million. The project envisaged hiring a media adviser at basic pay scale (BPS) 19, two communication specialists and nothing short of an army of public relations officers (PRO). However, these plans never materialised due to opposition faced by the information department – a provincial government department dedicated to manage PR-related activities.

Paper work

An insider privy to these developments said PTI’s social media team asked the information department for a written request asking for the transfer of administrative control but the department never complied.

“Upon this, two senior figures of PTI’s social media team changed administrative permits,” claimed the insider. Even Minister for Information Shah Farman favoured giving the department administrative control to both Twitter and Facebook accounts, however, he was bypassed in this matter, added the source.

On its part, the K-P Directorate of Information has created parallel social media accounts. However, the twitter account has no activity so far, while the Facebook account created on May 13 has a thin following of about 500.

When approached, PTI’s Dr Awab Alvi said http://facebook.com/kpgovt and @kpgovt were created and operated by the PTI social media team and were never under the control of the government.

The information department has been facing some issues which impacted the flow of the information, obstructing the smooth running of social media accounts, said Alvi.

“I am not opposed to handing over these accounts to the K-P government, provided these accounts are not misused,” he added. “However, there were chances of these accounts being misused.”

Minister for Information Shah Farman could not be contacted for his comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2014.