Internet activism involves the use of electronic-communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular information to large and specific audiences, as well as coordination. Internet technologies are used by activists for cause-related fundraising, community building, lobbying, and organizing. A digital-activism campaign is "anorganized public effort, making collective claims on a target authority, in which civic initiators or supporters use digital media." Research has started to address specifically how activist/advocacy groups in the U.S. and in Canada use social media to achieve digital-activism objectives.
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👉 Internet activism in the context of Fourth-wave feminism
Fourth-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began around 2012 and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. According to Rosemary Clark-Parsons, digital platforms have allowed feminist movements to become more connected and visible, allowing activists to reach a global audience and act on it in real time. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and the marginalization of women in society. These online tools open up the doors for empowerment for all women by giving opportunities for diverse voices, particularly those from marginalized communities to contribute to a wide range of people pushing for a more inclusive movement.
Fourth-wave feminism focuses on sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual violence, the objectification of women, and sexism in the workplace. Internet activism is a key feature of the fourth wave, used to amplify awareness of these issues. Fourth-wave feminism broadens its focus to other groups, including the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, and advocates for their increased societal participation and power. It also advocates for equal incomes regardless of sex and challenges traditional gender roles for men and women, which it believes are oppressive. The movement further argues against sexual assault, objectification, harassment, and gender-based violence.
Internet activism in the context of Hacktivism
Hacktivism (or hactivism; a portmanteau of hack and activism) is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. A form of Internet activism with roots in hacker culture and hacker ethics, its ends are often related to free speech, human rights, or freedom of information movements.
Hacktivist activities span many political ideals and issues. Hyphanet, a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication, is a prime example of translating political thought and freedom of speech into code. Hacking as a form of activism can be carried out by a singular activist or through a network of activists, such as Anonymous and WikiLeaks, working in collaboration toward common goals without an overarching authority figure. For context, according to a statement by the U.S. Justice Department, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, plotted with hackers connected to the "Anonymous" and "LulzSec" groups, who have been linked to multiple cyberattacks worldwide. In 2012, Assange, who was being held in the United Kingdom on a request for extradition from the United States, gave the head of LulzSec a list of targets to hack and informed him that the most significant leaks of compromised material would come from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, or the New York Times.
Internet activism in the context of Community practice
Community practice, also known as mezzo social work, is a branch of social work that focuses on larger social systems and social change, and is tied to the history of social work. The field of community practice social work encompasses community organizing and community organization, community building, social planning, human service management, community development, policy analysis, policy advocacy, mediation, electronic advocacy and other larger systems interventions.
In the UK the term is often used for community work or health visitors.