#PulangMengundi movement attacked by spambots

GE14 | The social media campaign aimed at helping Malaysians travel home to vote in the 14th general election (GE14) has been bombarded by attacks from “spambots”. 

The #PulangMengundi hashtag on Twitter was observed to have been inundated by unidentifiable users who would tweet the hashtag along with tens of other hashtags, but without any calls for, or to, offer assistance.

Many of these tweets were often accompanied by images of BN flags and banners, with a large number being sent by seemingly Russian accounts.

Social media consultant Joe Lee, who initiated the movement through his Twitter account @klubbkiddkl and continues to oversee it, said these as “spambot” attacks were aimed at hijacking and directing attention away from the movement which had been steadily gaining traction online since its inception.

“The attacks started after 3pm on Monday and is still continuing. So far I estimate about over 2,000 bots have spammed the hashtag.

“It is definitely intended to drown out the conversation, as the hashtag was a way of connecting users of #PulangMengundi and our affiliates #CarpoolGE14 as well as #UndiRabu,” Lee told Malaysiakini when contacted.

As a countermeasure, Lee has set up two official Twitter accounts namely @Pulang_Mengundi and @CarpoolGE14 where he and his team post regular updates. 

A website, www.pulangmengundi.com, has also been set up as a hub for all digital-based efforts to help Malaysians who are facing financial or transport difficulty returning home in time to vote on Wednesday, May 9.

Lee first began #PulangMengundi after the Election Commission announced polling day last Tuesday. 

Along with #UndiRabu and #CarpoolGE14, Malaysians netizens on Twitter began immediately using these hashtags to help each other.

Twitter users have been offering to fund or subsidise travel costs for other Malaysians, including those travelling from distant locations such as Singapore, some are offering carpool rides back to their voting constituencies while others use it as a platform to inform others of cheap flight, bus or even ferry tickets that may be available.

So far, more than RM140,000 have apparently been raised and hundreds of people have posted about being sponsored by strangers for their trips home to vote.  -Mkini