Paradoxes of Visibility in Activism: The Inter-play of Online Power Dynamics Between Activists and the State in the Egyptian Revolution

Authors

Evronia Azer, Royal Holloway, University of LondonFollow
Yingqin Zheng, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United KingdomFollow
G. Harindranath, Royal Holloway, University of LondonFollow

Abstract

Social Media has allowed activists to make their causes visible and network locally and transnationally with supporters, but posed equal threats to activists, as authoritarian states employ repressive sur-veillance measures. This paper explores the struggle between the state and activists for visibility on social media platforms, and conceptualises the paradoxes of visibility in daily practices in both sides. This is done by researching grassroots human rights groups from the Egyptian revolution, and there-fore contributing to the narrative that social media has presented as many challenges as opportunities to activism, because the same tools that are used to leverage activism are also used strategically by the state to suppress activism.

Recommended Citation

Azer, Evronia; Zheng, Yingqin; and Harindranath, G., "Paradoxes of Visibility in Activism: The Inter-play of Online Power Dynamics Between Activists and the State in the Egyptian Revolution" (2018). MCIS 2018 Proceedings. 36.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mcis2018/36