If you didn’t think you could use a dating app or a video game to protest against systemic
racial injustice – think again.
Digital activism #BlackLivesMatter
In the last two weeks we have seen #BlackLivesMatter flood social media. Lots of posts have shared
images of physical protests around the world - but in the middle of a global pandemic that’s
keeping many indoors, people are also finding new ways of demonstrating solidarity from
the comfort of their screens.
DANIELLE: The Black Lives Matter rally that I organised allowed Simmers across the world
- so we’re talking Korea, Germany, the US, Brazil, all over the world - to use their
creativity as well as their voices to stand together against racism in all forms as well
as police brutality.
DAKOTA: I gained some speed there, people were donating. I’d have them send me an
icloud photo or send screenshots to me over snapchat because you can’t send photos
over Tinder. I really have been floored by the positivity.
Sophia: Both Danielle and Dakota shared their activism via online video. Whether it’s
a 5 hour long livestream or a 15 second TikTok - more and more people are doing it.
KUBI: I think that generally speaking video content is the thing that’s propelled the
BLM movement internationally and it’s also the thing that has horrified us the most but the
truth of the matter is that what's happening is not new, it’s just now that people can capture it and
put it on tiktoks and instagram.
We’ve seen a rise in algorithmic activism - users on platforms like TikTok are using
engagement strategies to try and catapult content onto other people’s feeds such as
commenting and sharing the link.
Some have mobilised to game hashtags working towards counter-movements to make sure Black
Lives Matter content still reigns - including Kpop fans.
IKRAN: Whenever there was a controversial hashtag
such as White Lives matter,
people decided to post fancams on the White Lives Matter and White Out Tuesday hashtags,
to confuse people who were using their hashtags.
Beyond algorithmic activism, we’re also seeing innovative ways of accruing donations
- such as persuading users to watch YouTube videos so that their advertising revenue can
be contributed to things like bail funds.
But how does big tech handle so many of its users suddenly turning into activists?
Tinder has had to apologise for banning some users who promoted Black Lives Matter on their profiles.
TikTok has come under fire for an algorithm that has allegedly suppressed the visibility
of black creators. It’s since made promises to improve its moderation strategies and create
a diversity council - but for many, this has been a fortnight of traumatic online content, online racist abuse, and
even possibly being banned or blocked by the very platforms they were trying to spread
their message on.
SEYI: What I want to see from tech companies is move away from design by profit and design by safety.
That’s a fundamental framework that will mean we're looking at involving all users and making sure they're safe and included.
SEYI: It’s not about beating ourselves up but it’s about incorporating tech accountability
in our messages when we’re calling for systematic reform.
HELEN: Online activism hasn’t been going on for very long – we’re
talking 10 years. So as we reach a more mature activism,
you see a much more organised approach
to things like Black Lives Matter for example, has become organised.
So we're bound to see that with activism of all kinds -- that it will
start to catch up with itself, in terms of organisation, and fitting into the existing institutional landscape.
Whatever the social movement, and whatever the social media - digital
activism is going to continue to grow. Sure, a lot of people are using social media to facilitate physical
protests - but the pandemic is showing us that online activism can be just
as important as offline protest.
KUBI: My granny who is the daughter of a Scottish slavemaster and a black Caribbean slave used
to say to me all the time before she died - each one of us need to put our tiny little
drop in the ocean. And when we put our tiny drops in the ocean, if enough of us put a tiny
drop in we create a ripple. And a ripple creates a wave and a wave creates a tidal wave.
Every single activism counts. Whether it’s just one black square, one Zoom protest or
a million marches. Whether your activism is in the boardroom questioning your organisation’s
policy on race or gender discrimination or whether your activism is conversations with
your friends about white privilege. It all matters and we need all of it in order to
make real sustainable change.