Parties spend Tk2.8cr on Facebook ads as campaigns go digital

With less than a week to go before the 12 February national election, Bangladesh's campaign landscape has undergone a visible shift. Political parties, barred from using posters under revised rules, have moved their campaigns online, turning social media into the main battleground for votes.

TBS Infograph

What was once dominated by wall posters and roadside banners is now driven by sponsored posts, targeted videos and paid promotions on social media platforms. 

Facebook, in particular, has emerged as the primary tool for outreach, followed by Instagram.

An analysis of Meta's Ad Library and transparency platform Who Targets Me shows that between 5 November 2025 and 2 February 2026, the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Islami Andolan Bangladesh and their affiliated organisations spent around $233,331 on online advertisements from 489 Facebook pages. 

In Bangladeshi currency, this amounts to roughly Tk2.8 crore. On average, over $3,500 was spent each day, with daily spending crossing $14,000 on some days.

Meta is the parent company of Facebook. Political parties running ads on the platform use Meta's advertising system, which provides tools like the Ad Library for transparency and campaign data analysis. The data is publicly accessible on Facebook's Ad Library page.

Who Targets Me is an open-source transparency platform that tracks political advertising on major digital platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, using publicly available data. It has been used to monitor election campaigns across Europe, the US, Asia and Africa.

BNP leads with Tk1.5cr spending

In overall expenditure, the BNP is far ahead of its rivals. Of the top ten highest-spending political pages, seven belong to BNP or its supported candidates.

Collectively, BNP has spent about $128,303 on digital advertisements about social issues, elections or politics during the time frame – more than half of the total spent by all parties combined. In local currency, this exceeds Tk1.5 crore. 

Ads were run from at least 234 BNP-linked pages, with average daily spending per page at $1,973, peaking at $9,979 on a single day.

Among individual pages, the highest single spending came from BNP-backed candidate Hummam Qader Chowdhury's page from Chattogram-7, which spent around $6,500 so far, with a one-day peak of $772. 

The party's main page spent more than $2,268, while party Chairman Tarique Rahman's page spent over $2,007. The highest central expenditure came from the "BNP Media Cell" page, which spent more than $3,688.

Jamaat follows closely

Jamaat ranks second in digital campaign spending, with about $88,483 spent – over Tk1 crore – accounting for nearly 40% of total online ad expenditure related to the election. 

Ads were promoted through around 199 Jamaat-linked pages, with average daily spending of $1,361 per page and a peak of $5,243 on a single day.

Jamaat's central page spent $1,205, while the page of party Ameer Shafiqur Rahman spent more than $2,822. The highest spending came from the central campaign page "Cholo Eshathe Gori Bangladesh," which spent around $4,394 so far, peaking at $663 in a single day.

Smaller parties also active

Minor parties have not stayed out of the digital race. The NCP spent $8,882 through 33 pages, averaging $136 per page daily. Islami Andolan spent roughly $7,663 across 23 pages, averaging $117 per page. 

Other smaller parties, including Gano Adhikar Parishad, AB Party and Khelafat Majlish, have also run targeted ads, focusing on specific regions and voter groups.

Why online dependence rising

Experts said video content, images, sponsored posts and customised ads targeting specific demographics now form the core of campaign strategy. With a large share of Bangladesh's Facebook users being young, parties see digital platforms as a virtual poster wall aimed squarely at first-time and young voters.

Meanwhile, demand has risen sharply for video editors, graphic designers, content writers, social media managers, ad-boosting specialists and data analysts. Many parties have formed dedicated media cells to produce content, optimise ads and analyse performance data.

Akhtar Kabir Chowdhury, general secretary of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), Chattogram district branch, said reporting all digital campaign expenditures, including Facebook boosting, to the Election Commission is mandatory. 

"This ensures transparency in election spending and prevents candidates from exceeding the prescribed budget. Online campaigning is more effective and less risky than traditional offline methods," he added.