by By McKenzie Boyle
Social Media has become an important tool in the world of activism and advocacy. It gives people outside of traditional media platform to promote, discuss, and think out loud.
This last November, social media activism boomed due to the reactions following the no-indictment verdict in the Michael Brown case.
This graphic shows the geotagged tweets mentioning ‘Ferguson’ or #Ferguson on November 24, 2014.
In an article in The Atlantic titled, “Hashtag Activism isn’t a Cop-Out”, Noah Berlatsky interviews DeRay Mckesson, one of the more well-known activists against police brutality. In the article, Mckesson notes,
“…Twitter specifically has been interesting because we’re able to get feedback and responses in real time. If we think about this as community building, and we think of community building as a manifestation of love, and we think about love being about accountability, and accountability about justice, what’s interesting is that Twitter has kept us honest. There’s a democracy of feedback. I’ve had really robust conversations with people who aren’t physically in the space, but who have such great ideas. And that’s proven to be invaluable.”
On the other side of the world in Russia, however, Mckesson’s comment that “there’s a democracy in feedback”, doesn’t quite apply.
This isn’t to say that people in Russia aren’t on social media. Because they definitely are. Russia is Europe’s largest internet market in terms of numbers, and they’ve increased to over 66 million Internet users. They use sites like twitter and Facebook, but localized platforms Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki are far more popular.
Unlike countries with upfront Internet censorship laws, like China, Russia uses fines and bans to suppress criticism of the government and unwanted ideas.
Blogs are very popular in Russia because the media is controlled by the government, but if a blog has a daily readership of more than 3,000 people, it must be registered as a media outlet. Therefore, falling under the laws and restrictions of media outlets. One of the most recent controversies has been Russia’s ban on “LGBT propaganda”. “The law in effect makes it illegal to equate straight and gay relationships, as well as the distribution of material on gay rights.”
Russia has even gone as far as making many memes illegal.
Activism, advocacy, and freedom of expression are being quietly removed from the people of Russia. Social media users can be fined for sharing, and even just liking a post that the government deems inappropriate.
These aren’t new laws being added by parliament, they’re just additions to existing policies. This is very damaging to the way Russian’s are able to discuss and question things, because there’s no telling what policies will be adjusted next.
Follow me on twitter! @mazzzzzie
It’s really interesting me the stance that Mckesson has on Twitter keeping us honest. To an extent I think this is extremely true and especially in such cases as the no-indictment verdict in the Michael Brown case. However, in a lot of ways, social media platforms like Twitter can and have been used dishonestly. In the case with the no-indictment verdict and all of the live Tweets happening at that time I remember people tweeting pictures and updates about the protest that were entirely false. Police brutality is a very serious issue and a lot of the citizens in Ferguson used social media to spread the truth about what was happening during the riots. The fact that these same people were using pictures and creating false content to make the acts of police during this time worse than what it is, is extremely disheartening. When Twitter is being used for activism and advocacy I question how to differentiate what is authentic and what is not. For myself, I find it is almost impossible to find out the truth in such situations.
McKenzie,
I really loved seeing the graphic of geotags.
I think it’s also really interesting to see the differences in our culture surrounding the internet compared to Russia’s.
You brought up a really good point by showing how in America social media and hashtags were able to create a conversation, and give live updates about the Brown case. Comparing this to all the limitations in Russia is crazy.
People’s feedback and opinions are being oppressed, and that cannot create any good.
McKenzie- I think that freedom of expression on the internet is so important, especially when it comes to a huge social or political happening. Here, we are able to share when we feel like something is unfair, wrong, etc., and say it pretty much however we want. The restrictions and limitations to Russia’s internet definitely takes away the voice of the people.
Mckenzie,
It is fascinating to watch how social media shapes the discourse of activism. And I really enjoyed the map of the geotagged tweets you included. However, I don’t think the social media rights of Russians are being “quietly” removed. Based on what Deray McKesson said it seems that Russians are well aware of some the corruption of the internet, and therefore, are very weary to believe anything.
On the other hand, I was listening to a podcast recently where the speaker was arguing that social media is helpful to gain the attention of a widespread audience. However, it accelerates the process of protest so rapidly that causes are forgotten about more quickly (as seen in the Occupy movement.) Do you think that there is a way to effectively move the causes we are learning about online into the physical world?
-Katie McGuigan
@knmcguigan
McKenzie,
You created a wonderful contrast between Twitter in the United States and social media in a country like Russia. I knew that Russia had created some laws that banned certain content, mainly the one about LGBT propaganda, but after our discussion with Anna in class I was truly appalled at how much control the government has over their internet. As an avid social media user I feel like it is safe to say I like or share something at least 10-15 times a day, probably more. To think that I would not be able to express a simple opinion like a “like” without the fear of being fined or tracked is haunting thought for sure. What is even more devastating is when Anna said that the average citizen in Russia does not even realize the control and “self-censorship” that is being forced to take place. It just leaves me with the question of what’s next? How are the Russian people going to have any chance at stopping this outrageous control by their government? Without even knowing it they are becoming advocates for their own censorship.
This lecture on censorship in class was probably one of my favorites in all of college. We all talk a lot about social media and speech in the US and abroad, but it doesn’t seem like this issue gets very much attention. I really like that you brought up this idea of democracy in feedback. I definitely take advantage of the fact that I can express my opinion in multiple forums whenever I want, and that there are still countries where this expression on social channels just doesn’t happen.