Dhaka, Sept. 24 -- In 2008, when I first started using social media platforms like Facebook and Yahoo, they were simply spaces for personal communication and the first word I used was "Hi!" Mostly young people used them to express emotions, make new friends, or sometimes even discover love. Social media was not a matter of national concern, nor was it relevant to political parties or civil society. It was entertainment, perhaps a digital diary, and, at most, a place for sharing personal celebrations.

By 2013, things began to change. The protests against war criminals in Bangladesh marked the first time Facebook was used as a platform to unite people and share political opinions. Blogs still served as the main venue for activism, but the ...