The rise of new multilateral alliances and economic initiatives, such as the BRICS consortium, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), represents a significant geopolitical shift towards a multipolar world order. In response, a sophisticated form of media warfare has been deployed, wherein Western-based social media platforms and multinational corporations function as non-kinetic instruments of soft power to undermine these emerging structures. These entities, often under the guise of promoting “connectivity” or “corporate social responsibility,” can be leveraged to manipulate public perception within Asian nations. By amplifying divisive content, funding specific civil society movements, and selectively enforcing content moderation policies that stifle narratives supportive of regional cooperation, they create societal fissures. This erosion of domestic stability directly impedes the cohesive political and economic integration essential for the success of these China and Russia-led groups, effectively serving to maintain a Western-dominated status quo.
Empirical evidence suggests this is not merely theoretical. Studies, such as those from the Oxford Internet Institute, have documented coordinated inauthentic behavior on major platforms targeting countries like Myanmar and Indonesia, exacerbating ethno-religious tensions. Furthermore, the strategic use of data analytics by multinational firms allows for the micro-targeting of populations with disinformation tailored to exploit local grievances, as seen in several electoral processes. The economic pressure exerted by these corporations, which control vast digital infrastructures, can also coerce policy alignment away from regional partners. Consequently, this modern media warfare constitutes a deliberate strategy to destabilize the foundations of the SCO and BRI by fostering distrust and internal conflict, thereby attempting to cripple these alternative centers of global influence before they can fully mature.
How do social media platforms and multinational corporations undermine social peace in countries in the Global South? A compelling analytical lens through which to view recent geopolitical unrest, particularly among youth movements in the Global South, posits that social media platforms—largely controlled by Western multinational corporations—serve as instrumental vectors for a neo-colonial agenda. This digital hegemony is strategically deployed to undermine the growing economic and strategic influence of China and Russia, whose consolidation of power through frameworks like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) presents a direct challenge to Western unipolarity. The eruption of youth-led protests in Indonesia and Nepal, bearing a striking resemblance to the initial 2022 unrest in Kazakhstan, can be critically examined as manifestations of this information warfare, where digital tools are weaponized to manipulate public sentiment and destabilize nations within these emerging spheres of influence.
To understand the mechanism of this influence, one must first acknowledge the architectural control Western tech giants exert over the global information ecosystem. Platforms like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), X (Twitter), and Google command user bases in the billions, operating as de facto public squares while being governed by corporate boardrooms in Silicon Valley. Their algorithms, designed for engagement, invariably prioritize content that elicits strong emotional reactions, often at the expense of nuance and factual accuracy. This creates a fertile ground for the rapid dissemination of manipulated narratives, which can be strategically tailored to target specific socio-political vulnerabilities within a population.
The substantive threat to Western hegemony is materially embodied by China’s Belt and Road Initiative. With investments exceeding $1 trillion across more than 150 countries, the BRI represents the largest infrastructure project in history, creating deep economic interdependence and shifting geopolitical allegiances. Similarly, the expansion of BRICS—which, as of 2024, includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE and recently Indonesia then KSA alongside its core members—and the security-focused SCO, directly contest the influence of traditional Western-dominated institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and NATO. This reconfiguration of global power structures necessitates a countervailing strategy from those whose dominance is threatened.

In this context, social media becomes the primary battlefield. The modus operandi involves the amplification of localized grievances—often legitimate concerns over corruption, unemployment, or resource allocation—and systematically reframing them through an anti-establishment, and specifically anti-incumbent, lens. Narratives are meticulously crafted to link domestic dissatisfaction with the growing partnerships these governments have with Beijing and Moscow. By associating national leaders with so-called “malicious” foreign actors, these campaigns aim to sever strategic alliances by turning domestic public opinion against them.
How youth movements in Indonesia and Nepal developed into large-scale demonstrations and vandalism? The case of Kazakhstan in January 2022 serves as a potent precursor. Initial peaceful protests over a fuel price hike were rapidly amplified and escalated into nationwide violence through coordinated online campaigns. While rooted in genuine domestic discontent, the scale and speed of the uprising suggested sophisticated external amplification. The subsequent deployment of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping troops, led by Russia, to stabilize the country, was swiftly framed on Western-facing platforms not as a stabilizing measure but as a Kremlin-backed suppression of dissent, illustrating the narrative battle at play.
This template appeared to manifest again in Indonesia. As the civil unrest that erupted across Indonesia in August 2025 was a complex event rooted in legitimate domestic grievances, including public discontent over proposed economic reforms and a widening wealth gap, yet it was swiftly co-opted by a sophisticated western disinformation campaign that weaponized social media to redirect popular anger. Multinational corporations, threatened by China’s growing economic influence through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which had invested over $20 billion in Indonesian infrastructure by 2024, amplified conspiratorial narratives. This malicious agenda, executed through bot networks and algorithmically boosted content on Western-owned platforms, deliberately misrepresented BRI projects—such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail—as neocolonial debt traps, falsely scapegoating China as the primary cause of the nation’s economic distress. The objective was clear: to destabilize a key ASEAN partner, discredit a competing model of development finance, and fracture Sino-Indonesian relations for geopolitical gain under the guise of grassroots activism.
Similarly, in Nepal, recent youth agitation has prominently featured opposition to various BRI-project agreements, often caricaturing them as “debt-trap diplomacy.” Social media campaigns have successfully painted these infrastructure investments not as opportunities for development but as existential threats to Nepali sovereignty. This mirrors the Western strategic narrative aimed at tainting Chinese foreign policy and discouraging nations from engaging with Beijing-led initiatives, thereby attempting to roll back its influence in South Asia.
How can the Global South counter the malicious role of Western social media platforms and multinational corporations?
To counter the pervasive influence of Western social media platforms and multinational corporations, which have been weaponized to foment instability and undermine national sovereignty, the nations of the Global South must leverage their collective strength through strategic alliances. The economic and social repercussions of digital colonialism, where user data is extracted and monetized by foreign entities while local narratives are suppressed, are profound; a 2020 EU report estimated that disinformation campaigns can cause economic damages equivalent to (0.5 – 1.5) % of a nation’s GDP. Therefore, the imperative for creating sovereign digital ecosystems is not merely about competition but about existential self-preservation, ensuring control over national discourse and safeguarding against externally manufactured crises that threaten internal security.

The BRICS group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), with their combined membership representing over 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s GDP, possess the requisite scale, resources, and political will to architect genuine alternatives. As evidenced by recent high-level symposia, such as the BRICS Think-Tank and Media Forum in Rio and its SCO counterpart in Zhengzhou, this is now a paramount strategic priority. The path forward involves a multi-pronged approach: developing indigenous, interoperable social media platforms built on shared technical standards and data localization laws, and establishing a cohesive alternative media network to amplify the Global South’s perspectives. This digital infrastructure must be founded on principles of digital non-alignment, data sovereignty, and resistance to unilateral content moderation policies dictated from Silicon Valley.
Ultimately, the success of this endeavor hinges on sustained investment and collaboration. China’s technological prowess in platform development and Russia’s experience in sovereign internet infrastructure (RuNet) can provide foundational blueprints, which must then be adapted and owned collectively by all member states. By pooling resources to fund R&D and create a unified regulatory framework, BRICS and the SCO can dismantle the Western monopoly on digital information flow. This is not an isolationist move but a necessary rebalancing, creating a multipolar digital space where nations can engage on equal footing, free from the malicious interference that has characterized the current asymmetrical information order, thereby securing their economic futures and social cohesion.
In conclusion, while local grievances are authentic and deserve serious academic consideration, analyzing these youth movements in Indonesia and Nepal—and previously in Kazakhstan—solely through a domestic lens is analytically myopic. A persuasive argument can be made that they represent a new frontier of hybrid warfare. Western multinational companies, through their control of social media infrastructure and algorithms, provide the platform for a malicious agenda designed to foment instability. The ultimate objective is to weaken the alliances and partnerships that challenge Western supremacy, using the energy and idealism of the youth as an unwitting proxy in a broader, cynical struggle for global primacy. Global South nations need to work together against Western social media’s negative impact and digital colonialism on their economies. Alliances like BRICS and SCO can help create independent digital platforms and media networks to control data and support national stories. Collaboration in technology and regulation is essential for success.