Indian Council of World Affairs

In recent times, social media is being seen as one of the most crucial, important and powerful tools for diplomats to engage with global audiences, to promote  greater interest of the citizens and for a more informed public opinion. As of October 2023, there were 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, i.e. 65.7% of the global population. Of this total, 4.95 billion, or 61.4% of the world's population, were social media users^[i]. There are 1.2 billion^[ii] internet users in India with 0.5 billion^[iii] social media users. As of January 2023, India has 27.25 million users alone on X ( formerly Twitter), the third largest after the U.S. and Japan.

The presence of such a  huge population online makes social media an important platform for digital diplomacy, announcing new foreign policy measures and initiatives, and monitoring public opinion to better understand international relations. Social media channels now allow policymakers to directly make their voice reach governments in another part of the world. 

India’s digital diplomacy has gained huge popularity in the last few years. PM Shri Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) is the most followed politician on X (formerly Twitter^[iv]), and the only global leader to cross 20 million Youtube subscribers^[v].

MEA India^[vi] (@MEAIndia) is one of the most followed Twitter (now X) handles of foreign ministries globally. MEA India on Twitter (now X) keeps people posted about foreign dignitaries visiting India and briefings about the discussions held. In addition to MEA India’s social media handle, Indian Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) handle also keeps citizens informed by posting Press Releases, Joint Statements, speeches, announcement of appointments of new Ambassadors, etc. 

This paper tries to assess how social media (especially Twitter (now X)) is redefining the conduct of international relations and diplomacy in the present time. 

Digital Diplomacy - Tracing its Foot Prints 

It was first in 2011, during the Arab Spring that the power of social media got noticed by the world leaders and academicians on a massive scale. Then came the Covid-19 Pandemic, when countries were left with the digital medium of communications as one of the rare and most effective tools to keep the world connected and international relations going smoothly. From conferences to Summits and Track II Dialogues, video conferencing tools helped world leaders to communicate on international relations and diplomatic ties. 

Digital Diplomacy - Shaping Public Perceptions in Real Time 

Social Media has brought a revolution to how diplomacy is taken forward. In the past, diplomacy was considered as something very opaque. It was all decided mostly in closed rooms and people used to get information about it through news channels or print media. Now even diplomats and embassies remain active on social media. Citizens can directly get information from the policy makers and can listen to the first person narrative of decisions and their implications. Not only the citizens within the country but also the non-resident citizens abroad can know the real time impact of, for instance, new laws and immigration policies, making it easier for them to make real-time decisions effectively. 

Here are a few trending digital diplomacy tools from 2023 -

• Videos & Podcasts - Youtubers are now seen discussing critical issues such as Ukraine crisis, Israel-Hamas conflict and other international topics with people sharing their opinion in the comments section. Podcasts with diplomats, foreign policy researchers, professors and academicians help people understand international issues so as to form more informed opinion.
• Quick Official Updates -Even before the finalization of official documents by foreign ministries, in any Summit or Dialogue, people know about the relevant discussions and issues through posts on social media platforms through official handles of participating dignitaries, as was seen many times in 2023 such as during G20 Summit under India’s Presidency.
• Impactful Global Awareness - It is a fact that we get affected by situations that impact our brain visually. Social media has become a medium to make that impact more intense. People are now more serious to know about global issues such as climate change (as was seen recently during COP28 held recently in UAE), economic growth, gender equality, health and conflict situations. #COP28 was one of the most talked about and debated topics on social media during the last week of November to mid December 2023. With specific hashtags trending, social media platforms ensure that several aspects of that issue is focussed upon by different interested endurants.
• International Branding - International talks and discussions are now seen more in a concert form. This makes the world curious to know each move both visually and otherwise. People feel left out if they do not know the trends and cannot participate in discussions. Basically, branding of foreign policy makes citizens more aware and more inquisitive.
• Humanitarian Impact -With social media diplomacy, diplomats worldwide now have a bigger chance than ever to conduct surveys, map crises by tracing the social media post trails and can further use it to prepare better responses to natural and man-made crises. Embassies can even create custom-made apps to serve the greater good of their citizens living abroad. Social Media can now be used to create the true spirit of democracy more than ever by involving large masses and allowing them to express opinions on topics of foreign policy formulation and forging international relations.

Crisis Communication Strategies on Twitter(now X) Recent International Events 

With the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Twitter (now X) handle as one of the most followed global Government handles on social media, Social Media Diplomacy is seen as an essential tool of diplomacy in present times. During the time of any crisis or conflict, be that the Covid-19 Pandemic, or Ukraine crisis or Israel Hamas conflict, Indians from other foreign countries were brought back using effective communication strategies on social media. Some of the MEA India’s Digital Diplomacy Initiatives are -

• MEA India’s Madad Portal - MEA India’s Madad (@meaMadad) remains highly active on X and Facebook and quickly resolves issues of Indians living abroad. Earlier appeal for assistance, which would take a few days to reach the concerned authorities from one country to another, now reach their embassies in no time through Twitter (now X) and Facebook. Earlier people used to send offline applications to respective embassies and the communication channel was difficult to trace. Now, we can see citizens abroad are just tweeting and getting quick aid. 
• India’s G20 Presidency- During India’s G20 Presidency, with a dedicated G20India Twitter (now X) handle committed to bringing every minute detail to the public, India’s G20 Presidency gained huge limelight and appreciation. G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration document has more than 2.9 million views and 11k retweets from the Twitter (now X) handle of PM Shri Narendra Modi (@narendramodi).

• Rescue Missions during Crisis - Be the rescue operation during the unrest in Sudan or Israel, MEA launched various operations through trending hashtags. This enabled for quick and effective support. The chances of inclusivity are much more online because the hashtags on social media are a stronger medium to identify and connect wider people than a physical connection. Here are trending assistance hashtags by MEA India 2023-

#OperationKaveri - During 2023 Sudan conflict, nearly 2500^[vii] Indians were rescued safely by India under this operation.

 #OperationAjay - MEA launched this operation during the Israel Hamas Conflict. It was trending on Twitter (now X) and more than 1300^[viii] people were rescued.

• India’s Digital Diplomacy Collaborations - Recently Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto during his visit to India stated that he has sent Kenya’s ICT Minister to India to learn about digital ID and digitising government services. Apart from this, India has also signed MoU's with Finland, Vietnam, Africa and many other countries in the field of ICT for providing better digital infrastructure and communication and strengthening diplomatic ties. India is also engaging with countries of the Global South for sharing its expertise in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) such as Aadhaar, UPI, Digilocker, Co-Win, JAM (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile Number) and e-KYC, etc. These DPI initiatives have resulted in the Indian Government providing quick, direct and traceable benefits to the citizens.

Image Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/deep-dive/story/heres-how-indias-digital-public-infrastructure-is-going-global-405177-2023-11-09

Countering Disinformation Challenges 

With quick and effective communication channels, comes the challenge of monitoring every news and identifying fake news and online threats. Proper monitoring channels and digital tools need to be deployed to identify fake propaganda and misinformation. PIB India, MIB, MyGov are some of the official handles that help in identifying such misleading trends on social media and help people know the official facts and truth. During the virtual G20 Summit organised in Nov 2023 PM Shri Narendra Modi has expressed concerns over fake AI. PM quoted "There is a challenge arising because of Artificial Intelligence and deepfake ... a big section of our country has no parallel option for verification ... people often end up believing in deepfakes and this will go into a direction of a big challenge,… I recently saw a video in which I was seen singing Garba songs. Even I marvelled at how good the video was. There are many other such videos online"^[ix]. The PM also suggested Global AI Leaders to use advisory labels and announced that India will work towards introducing AI regulations globally. 

Conclusion 

Social media has bridged the gap between various stakeholders and has made it more transparent now than ever to disseminate foreign policies for the greater good of people. Direct and indirect real time opinions, polls and surveys are now helping formulate policies and initiatives. In today’s age of digital diplomacy, people’s association and participation in foreign policy initiatives is receiving an impetus as was shown by the JanBhagidari ( People’s Participation) approach of the Indian Presidency of G-20. Social Media helps the policy-makers to be in touch with the people’s pulse and is a vital tool for governance of our times.

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*Anvity Mohilay, Joint Manager, MyGov/Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.

Endnotes

^[i]https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

^[ii] https://www.statista.com/statistics/255146/number-of-internet-users-in-india

^[iii] https://www.statista.com/topics/5113/social-media-usage-in-india

^[iv]https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=PM-Modi-emerges-as-world%E2%80%99s-most-popular-leader-with-approval-rating-of-78%25&id=455192#:~:text=Prime%20Minister%20Narendra%20Modi%20has,based%20consulting%20firm%20Morning%20Consult

^[v]https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/pm-modis-youtube-channel-subscribers-number-cross-2-crore-far-ahead-of-other-global-leaders-11957831.html

^[vi]https://www.mea.gov.in/Uploads/PublicationDocs/29120_MEAs_Digital_Diplomacy_Footprint.pdf

^[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kaveri

^[viii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajay

^[ix] "World worried about negative effects of AI, deepfake": PM Modi (aninews.in)