The horror of the war and the responses of people from around the world highlight the dangers of diplomatic non-action. These events raise questions regarding the role of digital activism in shaping power dynamics that govern politics and war.
Flames are fanned by irresponsible messages.
In the Israel/Gaza conflict, Hamas spreads propaganda via platforms such as Telegram and X. Israel’s propaganda efforts include ads that show images of brutal violence displayed on X and YouTube.
It is also not possible to consider traditional media as a reliable source of facts. Reporting on conflict often ignores the context of violent events and focuses instead on specific violent incidents. News outlets also have made unsubstantiated and misleading claims in their reporting.
Journalists’ and investigators’ access is severely limited. Responsibility for events like the deadly al-Ahli Hospital blast is also highly contested. This requires more impartial and verified proof.
Real-world consequences
Violence has reached far beyond Gaza. Many Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank.
In the United States, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death, and his mother was wounded in an Islamophobic anti-Palestinian assault.
In France, three students were injured and a teacher killed in an Islamist attack on a school, while after bomb threats, the Louvre had to be evacuated. The country is at its highest level of alert.
Since the start of the war, the United Kingdom has seen a 400% increase in antisemitic attacks. Antisemitic violence broke out in Berlin when petrol bombs were hurled at a Synagogue.
What is digital activism?
Digital activism can be defined as any form of political activism or activism that is digitally enabled. Scholars consider digital activism a conceptual agitator that is broad and ambiguous. Its function is particularly important in times of war and conflict.
Does digital activism lead to real change? What are the implications and limitations of digital activism?
Digital activism is a powerful force.
Digital activism has a variety of impacts. Digital activism was used in the Black Lives Matter Movement to articulate a counternarrative and reframe important controversies. This led to social and political change.
It helped to galvanize public action in the Syrian refugee crisis. The tool was used to coordinate response to disasters and financial assistance after the 2020 Beirut bombing.
Digital activism has helped create collective networks of solidarity and resistance within social movements like the 2011 Egyptian uprising or Occupy Wall Street. It helped to shape the participation of conflict-related mobilization in the Russia-Ukraine War.
In the context of Israel/Palestine, research shows that digital activism can influence both the opinions of international and domestic audiences. This, in turn, can directly affect the events on the ground and the dynamic of conflict.
Social media has become a popular platform for citizens and public figures to express their outrage, show solidarity, check facts, coordinate aid, and add cultural and historical nuance to discussions.
Digital forensics can be used to study online accounts of war. These online accounts can also be used as evidence in open-source investigations of human rights violations, such as those conducted by Bellingcat or Forensic Architectural.
These platforms have been used by activists to combat state repression, allowing them to maintain their political autonomy while controlling the way they are presented. These platforms can also be used as sites for censorship and control.