In conjunction with the rise of populism all over the globe, social media has been acknowledged as an important arena for populist actors to disseminate their political ideas. This thesis aims to examine the relationship between social media and right-wing populism by exploring how an online platform mediates right-wing populist discourses. In contrast to the existing literature on this relationship, the social media platform TikTok is studied in this thesis. This study examines how online activists that are campaigning for the Sweden Democrats utilize the possibilities provided by TikTok’s material functions in relation to the social context in which they are used. Participant observation was conducted to study these dynamics, understood as platform affordances. The results show that the activists disseminate right-wing populist ideas on TikTok by utilizing functions for self-publication (of video). In terms of the proliferation of these videos, populist communication styles appear to be favored on this platform. A mapping of the social composition and available resources of these activists shows that their usage of the platform to conduct activism is affected by these factors, demonstrating different pathways to becoming an influential activist on TikTok.

In this dissertation, I analyze online environmental anti-toxics activism. Environmental activist groups have created a presence on the World Wide Web to help empower people to become aware of and struggle against pollution. The sites that I explore (http://www.epa.gov/tri/, http://www.epa.gov/enviro/wme/, http://www.rtknet.org/, and http://www.scorecard.org/) serve as devices of this empowerment and by extension recruit people to the political goals of anti-toxics activism. In my analysis, I focus on a series of questions germane to this context. How can/does this movement go online and utilize that presence to sway others to their cause and ideology? How then is that cause represented digitally, in the online medium? What are the reciprocal impacts of that representation on the movement itself? Most importantly, what form of activist identity is being promoted through the mediation of the online interface? That is, how are the identity of the self as activist and the related understanding of space and place altered through their translation into a digital environment? What are the parameters and limitations of digitally mediated, informed empowerment? I undertake to critique empowerment as found through the digital translation of environmental anti-toxics activism into the virtual space of the Web. I show that particular uses of this Internet application invent (reinvent/reinforce) versions of environmental anti-toxics activism, digitized versions which must be understood in terms of their wider assumptions and implications. I break the study into three main parts. The first part lays theoretical groundwork for studying Web-based entities. The second part deals with more particular foundational elements for digital environmental anti-toxics activism, especially in terms of information. In the final section, I analyze and critique the forms of digital identity and empowerment that the websites create. I conclude that digital empowerment, defined primarily through access to expert information, actually represents an impoverished version of empowerment which may do little to aid real-world toxic struggles. / Ph. D.

Activism and Civic engagement on social media have been taking place since they became a part of communication takes place in people’s everyday lives (Mihailidis 2015). This thesis aims to study the new opportunities for civic engagement and activism that have arisen through the growth of digital media. This work aims to study this by specifically studying how activism surrounding disability and disabled people (disability activism) takes place on the social media platform Twitter. Since the needs of disabled people are often not a priority in the development of technology (World Health Organization 2011, s.184). In this study a mediated community of disability activists and their activity on Twitter are studied using nethnography. The observations of which are analyzed through theoretical foundations in infrastructuring (Mosconi et al. 2017), design in relation to civic engagement (Korn & Voida 2015), and the role of mediated communities in activism (Fromm 2015). The primary result of the nethnography is the observation of how the disability activists appropriated Twitter as an infrastructure for their activism, as well as three analytical categories of the activity that was observed during the field work. Based on this categorization and analysis of the activists’ user behavior the main contribution of this thesis is formulated: A description of how disability activists engage in infrastructuring of Twitter to create a platform where their mediated community can engage in online activism and civic engagement. / Aktivism och samhällsengagemang i sociala medier har skett sedan de blev en del av hur kommunikation sker i människors vardagsliv (Mihailidis 2015). Denna uppsats ämnar undersöka de nya möjligheterna för samhällsengagemang och aktivism som uppstått genom utvecklingen av digitala medier. Detta verk ämnar undersöka detta genom att specifikt undersöka hur aktivism kring funktionsvariation och funktionsvarierade personer (funktionsaktivism) sker på den sociala mediaplattformen Twitter. Då funktionsvarierade personers behov ofta inte prioriteras i teknologisk utveckling (World Health Organization 2011, s.184). Genom en netnografi undersöks i denna studie en medierad gemenskap av aktivister och deras aktivitet på Twitter. Observationerna analyseras och diskuteras utefter teoretiska grunder i infrastrukturering (Mosconi et al. 2017) och design i förhållande till samhällsengagemang (Korn & Voida 2015), samt medierade gemenskapers roll i aktivism (Fromm 2015). De primära resultaten av netnografin är observationen av hur funktionsaktivister approprierade Twitter som infrastruktur för sin aktivism, samt tre analytiska kategorier av aktiviteten som observerades under fältarbetet. Utifrån denna kategorisering och analysen av aktivisternas användarbeteende formuleras uppsatsens huvudsakliga bidrag: En beskrivning av hur funktionsaktivister bedriver infrastrukturering av Twitter för att skapa en plattform där deras medierade gemenskap kan bedriva aktivism och samhällsengagemang.

<p>This study investigates how different kinds of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), operating in different national political contexts, perceive and use the Internet as a political space. The political space concept, as defined here, encompasses two dimensions of Internet use: one external, where organisations use the Internet for online activism and campaigning, and one internal, signifying organisational use of the Internet to promote engagement and interactivity with members and/or supporters. Another question raised is whether Internet use for political purposes by NGOs varies between different national political contexts. Moreover, do the organisations believe that the Internet has affected their political influence to any extent? The empirical data consist of the results of two surveys, one directed primarily to American NGOs, the other explicitly comparative, analysing NGOs in Sweden and the USA. Furthermore, content analyses of NGO websites have been conducted and additive indexes constructed. The findings of the study suggest that, overall, the Internet is most important to the studied organisations as a space for external political initiatives. There were, however, important differences in this regard, which could be related to the organisations’ national political contexts. For example, the American NGOs have oriented their websites primarily towards relatively superficial forms of member involvement, while the Swedish NGOs provided more interactive grassroots features on their websites. Regarding political influence, the Internet arguably has the potential to make the most dramatic difference by reinforcing the organisations’ offline political activities. The present results indicate that, despite the possible converging effect of the Internet on NGO political activism, national political culture exerts an inescapable influence on how the Internet is used as a political space by the studied organisations.</p>

This study investigates how different kinds of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), operating in different national political contexts, perceive and use the Internet as a political space. The political space concept, as defined here, encompasses two dimensions of Internet use: one external, where organisations use the Internet for online activism and campaigning, and one internal, signifying organisational use of the Internet to promote engagement and interactivity with members and/or supporters. Another question raised is whether Internet use for political purposes by NGOs varies between different national political contexts. Moreover, do the organisations believe that the Internet has affected their political influence to any extent? The empirical data consist of the results of two surveys, one directed primarily to American NGOs, the other explicitly comparative, analysing NGOs in Sweden and the USA. Furthermore, content analyses of NGO websites have been conducted and additive indexes constructed. The findings of the study suggest that, overall, the Internet is most important to the studied organisations as a space for external political initiatives. There were, however, important differences in this regard, which could be related to the organisations’ national political contexts. For example, the American NGOs have oriented their websites primarily towards relatively superficial forms of member involvement, while the Swedish NGOs provided more interactive grassroots features on their websites. Regarding political influence, the Internet arguably has the potential to make the most dramatic difference by reinforcing the organisations’ offline political activities. The present results indicate that, despite the possible converging effect of the Internet on NGO political activism, national political culture exerts an inescapable influence on how the Internet is used as a political space by the studied organisations.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2018-03-27T18:45:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ludmilamarianoronhasouza.pdf: 4662715 bytes, checksum: 250a6d8e956f5164b97056b6402998b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-04-09T19:22:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ludmilamarianoronhasouza.pdf: 4662715 bytes, checksum: 250a6d8e956f5164b97056b6402998b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-09T19:22:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ludmilamarianoronhasouza.pdf: 4662715 bytes, checksum: 250a6d8e956f5164b97056b6402998b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-19 / O presente estudo enfoca o contexto de disponibilização de canais de participação política institucionalizada aos cidadãos através de mecanismos digitais. O conceito de representação é colocado em foco no eixo temático da democracia através de uma análise acerca da teoria participacionista e da teoria deliberacionista, apresentadas como possibilidades de incremento da democracia representativa. As modalidades de participação foram enquadradas sob a ótica da atuação on-line e a democracia deliberativa tem expressão, para a pesquisa, no conceito habermasiano de esfera pública. Estabelece-se uma reflexão acerca do conceito de sociedade em rede e suas implicações na conformação de uma esfera pública no espaço virtualizado, em confluência com a prerrogativa da participação individual. Configura-se, então, um quadro sociotemporal da oferta de mecanismos digitais voltados à participação política individual on-line no Brasil. Abordam-se, primeiramente, iniciativas advindas de entidades e organizações da esfera civil, com a exemplificação de dois modelos: o site Votenaweb e o componente on-line da campanha pela Lei da Ficha Limpa, capitaneado pela Avaaz. Ao abordar, especificamente, a interface entre Estado e sociedade no âmbito da institucionalização da participação, a tese parte da conformação do cidadão individual e de seu papel de destaque nas propostas disponibilizadas pelo aparato governamental no percurso em questão. À luz de tal premissa, é analisada a plataforma Dialoga Brasil. Visando amplificar a abordagem, coloca-se este objeto em perspectiva com um outro mecanismo de participação digital, também consolidado num regime democrático; analisa-se, para tanto, o sistema de petições on-line da Assembleia da República de Portugal. De forma geral, confirmando a hipótese principal, conclui-se que os objetos analisados se encontram inseridos na estruturação de um percurso de ampliação da oferta de mecanismos digitais voltados para a participação individual. Verifica-se que os dois objetos analisados, considerando-se seu potencial e seus limites, contribuem como incrementos da participação na democracia representativa e promovem uma maior aproximação entre sociedade civil e instâncias governamentais, contando o peticionamento on-line português com uma estruturação mais sistemática como mecanismo de participação, inclusive em função de estar estabelecido por um período mais longo do que a plataforma brasileira analisada. Na relação contemporânea estabelecida entre Internet e política, com foco na participação individual institucionalizada, faz-se a ressalva, a partir da abordagem desta pesquisa, de que as novas modalidades on-line devem se estabelecer em consonância com outros mecanismos coletivos e organizacionais, integrados num contexto sistêmico, para que não se configurem como experiências isoladas. / The present study focuses on the context of the structuring on offering institutionalized political participation channels for citizens through digital mechanisms. The representation concept is brought into focus in the thematic axis of democracy through an analyse about participationist theory and deliberacionist theory, presented as possibilities to increase the representative democracy. The modalities of participation were framed from the perspective of the online performance and the deliberative democracy has expression, for the research, in Haberman‘s concept of the public sphere. It establishes a reflection about the network society concept and its implications in the formation of a public sphere in the virtualized space, in confluence with the prerogative of individual participation. Configures than, a sociotemporal framework of the offering of digital mechanisms aimed to online individual political participation in Brazil. Approaches, firstly, initiatives arising from entities and organizations of the civil sphere, with exemplification of to models: the Votenaweb website and the online component of the campaign by the Ficha Limpa law, led by Avaaz. When addressing specifically the interface between State and society within the institutionalized participation, the thesis of the conformation of the individual citizen and his role of featured in the proposals available by the government apparatus in the course in question. In light of this premise, it is analyzed the Dialoga Brazil platform. In order to amplify the approach, arises this object in perspective with another digital participation mechanism, also consolidated in a democratic system. Analyses therefore, the online petition system of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. In general, confirming the main hypothesis, it is concluded that the analyzed objects are inserted in the structure of an expansion path offering focused digital mechanisms for individual participation. It is noted that the two objects analyzed, considering its potential and its limits, contributes as increments of the participation in a representative democracy and promote a closer approach between civil society and government bodies, counting the petitioning online portuguese with a more systematic structure as a mechanism for participation, including in living function established for a longer period than the brazilian platform analyzed. In a contemporary relation established between Internet and politics focusing on institutionalized individual participation, it is made the reservation, from the approach of this research, that the new online arrangements should be established in line with other collective and organizational mechanisms, integrated in a systemic context, so they do not configure as isolated experiences.

In July 2018, Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court rejected the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (better known as the Istanbul Convention). This rejection came following a wave of civic activism, which scholars characterized as the first anti-gender campaign in Bulgaria. Three years after the Constitutional Court’s decision, the Istanbul Convention continues to occupy online and offline public space, still provoking controversy and sparking heated debates. Employing critical discourse analysis (CDA), this thesis analyzes comments under Facebook posts mentioning the Istanbul Convention between 2017 and 2021. The posts appear on the Facebook pages of two ideologically opposing civil organizations that actively participated in the debate around the Convention’s ratification. Using Reyes’ (2011) concept of de/legitimization discourse, this paper analyses the online discussion around the Convention, exploring how de/legitimization discourses are utilized by the two ideologically opposing communities. To account for the role of Facebook as a discursive practice, the study further explores how the architectures and affordances of Facebook as a platform contribute to the polarization of the IC discussion. The analysis reveals the instrumentality of de/legitimization discourses for constructing pro- and anti-IC activist groups, for redefining the meaning of ‘gender’ in Bulgarian society, and later for transforming the meaning of the phrase ‘the Istanbul Convention’ to outgrow a reference to one document and become a signifier of values. Additionally, the study highlights three types of Facebook affordances that were found to affect the discussion’s polarization: identity, social, and functional.

This study examines digital media activism during the full-scale war in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion in 2022, focusing specifically on Instagram content posted by users with connections to Kharkiv city between March 18-25, 2022. Kharkiv was heavily affected by bombings throughout the war.  The theoretical framework combines Bennett and Segerberg’s (2009) theory of connective action with Vegh’s theory of internet activism (2013) and Earl et al.’s (2010) perspective on Vegh’s theory. Additionally, the analysis, observations, and theory review led to the development of an additional category, building upon Bennett and Segerberg’s (2009) theory of connective action.  The research methodology involves a four-step toolkit comprising qualitative content analysis, semiotics (denotation and connotation), and anchorage. The analysis of patterns and classification confirms the high level of involvement in digital media activism by users and reveals differentiation based on the purpose of communication. Semiotic analysis and anchorage demonstrate the intellectual and emotional engagement of Ukrainians in digital society and their efforts to provide information and support.  The study introduces a new classification of digital media activism for content analysis and establishes a new category within the theoretical framework. It expands possibilities for future research on digital media activism and online activity during war or similar life-threatening situations. Furthermore, the study presents a methodological toolkit applicable to limited content formats such as Instagram stories, Facebook Stories, and Snapchat.

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