The history of political communication demonstrates that tools designed for campaign mobilisation often make poor instruments for governance. A strong case study in this regard is the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as a ruling party from 2018 till its removal in April 2022.

Having risen to power through a powerful digital campaign that redefined political participation in Pakistan, the PTI government revealed a stark example of how the mechanisms that drive social media engagement are rather opposed to the requirements of effective governance.

Other parties aiming to govern effectively must extract a crucial lesson from PTI’s administrative struggles as it tried to enact governance and durable policymaking. Therefore, even in the ‘digital age’, the current government must make a deliberate break from social media platforms, or limit its presence there.

As was the case during the PTI regime, an active presence on digital platforms undermines governance. To understand this, one must examine the dynamics of ‘digital populism.’ A noted research on digital media and political polarisation by the American academic and media expert Silvio Waisbord highlights how platforms such as X (previously Twitter) and Facebook “reward anger, immediate emotional resonance and simplified binaries.”

As Pakistan continues to navigate an intensely polarised digital political environment, the government must establish a deliberate separation between the demands of social media algorithms and the slow work of governing

As Pakistan continues to navigate an intensely polarised digital political environment, the government must establish a deliberate separation between the demands of social media algorithms and the slow work of governing

On the other hand, effective governance and policymaking rely on thoughtful deliberation, bureaucratic routine and consensual compromises. But in contrast, during its time in government, PTI remained trapped in what British political scientist Pippa Norris terms the “permanent campaign mode”, or what Pakistani political commentator Najam Sethi rephrased as........

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