Facebook vs. NPP: #CocaineGovernment Didn’t Survive the Truth Test

Facebook, a subsidiary of Meta, has officially blocked the infamous #CocaineGovernment tag, much to the dismay of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) social media landguards and its online crusaders.

According to Facebook’s notice, the hashtag was hidden because “some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards.” To simply put, the algorithm did what common sense should have done a long time ago.

The hashtag was cooked up in the political kitchen of sensationalism, designed to throw shade at the current government with allegations that were heavy on drama but light on evidence. It became the go-to chant for keyboard activists and partisan X (Twitter) warriors who mistook trending for truth.

Meta platform, for all its flaws, does draw a line at unverifiable claims, especially ones linking a sovereign government to international drug cartels without a shred of credible proof. This is not your local radio morning show where you can say anything and get away with it. This is Silicon Valley surveillance in HD.

The NPP social media landguards came armed with buzzwords and hashtags hoping to charm the public and instead ran into a firewall of facts. The entire #CocaineGovernment operation now looks like a PR experiment gone terribly wrong, a classic case of how not to manage political communication in the age of algorithmic accountability.

Unfortunately, to be loud doesn’t win battles anymore, strategy does. And in this case, Meta proved more strategic than the party that claims to have “the men.”

So, to the NPP landguards, here’s a free PR tip; Next time, fact-check before you hashtag. Because in modern digital media, if you can’t back it, they will block it.

The writer is Sefa Sedofia, a Public Relations and Development Communication Professional.