The Invisible Manipulation: How Politics Has Infiltrated Every Aspect of Nepali Life

A few days ago, I attended a professional promotion event held in a well-equipped hall in Bharatpur. While the speaker was presenting slides from a laptop with the aim of providing technical information about a new product, surprisingly, under the guise of giving technical examples, he was spewing the agenda of a specific political party. 

I was stunned! Can a platform for selling machines or software now become a place to spread political ideology?

This experience was not isolated. A few days ago, I went to a friend's house to meet him. I learned from his family that he had gone to church. Since the church was nearby, I went there to meet him. A sermon about God was being delivered there. My friend gestured for me to sit. I sat near him. The same scene repeated there as well. While discussing 'God the Father,' the context suddenly shifted to current politics and the advocacy of a particular party. 

A few days ago, I went to a bhajan group, and there, the bhajan itself was tied to a certain political party. In this way, devotees seeking the cool shade of religion and spirituality were unknowingly listening to a briefing from a political activist. Not only that, I have experienced that even in seminars of non-governmental organizations (INGOs) that have sworn to serve society, contexts are woven as examples in a way that benefits a certain political side. 

When setting questions or giving examples in schools, it is done in a way that promotes a certain political side. A mark is found to be left on the tender child psychology. These series of events have raised a serious question. Is politics now limited only to speeches at Tundikhel and rallies on the streets? Certainly not. Politics has now secretly entered our kitchen, our prayer room, our school, and the 'scroll' of our mobile phones. 

The results of the last House of Representatives election must have startled the political parties. The areas that major political parties in Nepal had considered their strongholds for years collapsed like a house of cards in this election. The meaning of this is clear: voters are now more influenced by their mobile screens and daily conversations than by slogans on the streets, posters on walls, or promises made. 

When a person finds an 'echo chamber' (a place where the same voice echoes) of politics even when going to a temple to seek peace or to a shop to buy goods, their independent judgment gradually becomes stifled. In Nepal, too, no party's pocket area or vote bank is safe anymore. Voters are 'swinging' at such a fast pace that parties must have realized that the old style is no longer enough. That is why the game of 'micro-targeting' has started now. 

Cambridge Analytica and Digital Espionage

A more sophisticated style than the strategy used by 'Cambridge Analytica' in the 2016 US election has started to be seen in Nepal now.  Cambridge Analytica was actually a form of digital espionage and psychological warfare. It had collected personal information of about 87 million Facebook users without their permission. That data was not just for names and addresses, but for finding people's psychological profiles. 

Cambridge Analytica had prepared a detailed map of people's political leanings, fears, and interests based on what they liked on Facebook, what kind of photos they commented on, and what they shared. They used algorithms to discover qualities like openness, honesty, extroversion, agreeableness, and sensitivity in people and served content accordingly.

They did not waste time on hardcore supporters or hardcore opponents. They identified those swing voters who were hesitant to make a decision. If a person was of a nature easily influenced by fear, they were shown scary political advertisements related to security and danger. If someone was more focused on economic matters, they were sent content showing rosy dreams of taxes and employment. 

Depending on a person's nature, they would fill their minds with the things they wanted by sending similar types of content to their brains. The most dangerous aspect of this was that the users would not even know that someone was 'manipulating' them. Such news and videos would start appearing on their Facebook walls that would gradually change their opinions. This was not a public speech; it was like a 'private consultation' done by entering inside the individual's mobile. It was a change of thought in the brain. 

In the context of Nepal, this has reached not only technology but also the 'social setting.' Cambridge Analytica only used data, but in Nepal, it has been found that along with algorithms, i.e., data, physical places like people's faith (temple/religion), livelihood (professional programs), and education (school) have been made into political laboratories.

In Nepali groups on social media and TikTok, the narrative that 'everyone else has come to destroy, only I have come to save' is repeated so much through thousands of 'fake accounts' that it starts to feel like a 'national wave' to ordinary people. After such a scandal in America, Facebook had to pay a huge fine and the rules became strict. However, in Nepal, there is no strong body to regulate which advertisement is being run by whom, from where, and with what budget. This has made it easier for 'invisible forces' to play. 

The Web of Algorithms and 'Confirmation Bias'

Former Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya has discussed the context of America and the concept of safe forts and swing states in his book 'Bichitrako Loktantra Gajjabko Nirbachan' (Strange Democracy, Amazing Election). He writes, 'To become the US President, it is more important to win these 'swing states' strategically than to be popular across the country.' The author calls this a 'game of strategy and mathematics' and mentions how geographical and demographic composition also alters the political balance of power.'

It was felt that this concept is now being applied in Nepal as well. No one's fort remained safe; all voters became swing voters. Today's politics is being played more on the 'algorithm' of social media than on the streets. The algorithms of Facebook and TikTok create such an 'echo chamber' where you are shown only what you want to see. There is a dangerous game here: 'Everyone else is bad, only I am right.'

A lie is presented by making videos through different characters repeatedly. When you watch many videos of the same nature, your brain starts to consider it 'truth.' This is the psychology of 'confirmation bias' (the tendency to seek information that only confirms one's own opinion). 

The algorithm keeps you trapped in such a circle that you feel like the whole country is thinking 'what I am thinking.' But in reality, it is not so. You are imprisoned within certain digital walls. In the neighboring country India, the term 'Godi Media' is very popular. Some large media outlets there do not serve news, but sing the praises of one side and dehumanize the opposition. 

In Nepal too, some online portals and YouTube channels are busy deifying a particular party or leader based on 'invisible investment.' The job of the media is to ask questions, but when the media itself becomes a 'PR agency' for a party, the fourth pillar of democracy collapses. 

Political philosopher Antonio Gramsci propounded the theory of 'cultural hegemony.' His argument was that the political class does not rule only by the strength of power and guns; it inserts its ideas into every part of society—schools, religion, media—in such a way that ordinary people start to feel that the idea is their own. 

Today, exactly this is happening in Nepal. When a school teacher mixes the philosophy of a party while giving examples in the classroom, or in religious, social, and professional organizations, it settles into the subconscious mind of that person. The person thinks they are making an independent decision, but in reality, their brain has already been 'programmed' by some invisible force. Joseph Goebbels' theory that 'if you repeat the same lie a thousand times, it becomes the truth' has been established by today's 'digital boots' and 'IT cells.'

Conclusion

Today's politics has changed to a 'bottom-up' style, where the leader does not give orders, but politics is hidden and served within the interests and needs of the people. Political parties are turning the trust people have in religious leaders or social activists and the media into votes or in their favor. As a result, politics has arrived like a shadow, not just during election time, but from our morning tea talk to our evening prayers. 

In this era of information technology, truth has been overshadowed and the web of algorithms has become strong. The politics of now is not played on the field, but is filled inside people's brains, where 'trust' has been made a weapon. Therefore, it is time for us to think: is our thought really our own original, or is it a file 'installed' in our brain by some software or selfish speaker? 

The backbone of democracy is the voters. They are free to hold independent thoughts and make decisions. And they should be. But how much are ordinary people exercising such freedom? The only way to avoid invisible manipulation is digital literacy and civic awareness. Instead of blindly believing the content seen on social media, one must learn to question its source and intent. 

If the same political narrative starts to be heard, seen, and said in temples, churches, schools, and on mobile screens, understand that you are being targeted by someone. In a democracy, being a real citizen is not just about voting, but about being aware of the basis on which your thoughts are being formed. 

Let us be aware, otherwise, it will not take long for our conscience to become a pawn of some 'PR agency.'