A new frontier in digital activism: An exploration of digital feminism in Fiji

Abstract

Social media has become a crucial feature of the Pacific islands in the 21st century, providing people with the means to demand greater accountability and transparency and offering an alternative platform through which to engage in policy processes, dialogue, and debate. Increasing social media access and use has altered the existing media and communications landscape, with implications for mainstream media reporting, censorship, and citizen voice. This paper explores this phenomenon through an examination of the digital activism practices of a group of women's rights activists in Fiji. In doing so, this paper explores how social media is being used as an online platform for information dissemination and debate, as well as the implications this is having "offline" as part of efforts to influence policymaking.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Pacific Youth: Local and Global Futures

“…A growing cohort of researchers, including some represented in this volume, are helping address the lack of Pacific literature that engages with youth. Studying areas such as online activism (Brimacombe et al 2018), practices of contemporary citizenship (LeFevre 2013) and demonstrations of masculinity (Hawkes 2018;Marsters & Tiatia-Seath, Chapter 11, this volume), they demonstrate how understanding youth issues from youth perspectives provides a deeper understanding of social issues in the region. These texts aid in addressing a significant challenge for emerging Pacific youth researchers regarding not only the lack of focus on the causes and sociocultural factors influencing youth problems in recent decades, but also the narrow focus that much of the academic literature has taken.…”

“…Today, the influences of an increasingly globalised world are evident in everyday practices, such as the consumption of Filipino soap operas on pirated DVDs (Good 2013). The changes, such as the widespread use of mobile phones (Brimacombe 2017;Brimacombe et al 2018;Foster & Horst 2018) and access to the internet in many parts of the Pacific, cannot be underestimated and have become a new source of anxiety about the dangers of modernity (Lee 2018, p. 121). Despite the vast differences in the lives of youth across the Pacific and its diaspora-such as the contrasts between the experiences of youth in urban Hawai'i and those in rural PNG-mobile phones, the internet and technological change have brought profound change.…”

“…Global connectivity is providing some Pacific youth with a means to have a voice about issues that concern them and to overcome their marginalisation within their own societies. For example, social media is used effectively by young people involved in activism (Brimacombe 2017;Finau et al 2015) and there is now a plethora of Facebook pages that are managed by Pacific youth organisations.…”

“…Despite this, change has been present in recent years, resulting in an expanded and emboldened civil society sector in certain spaces. The combination of enhanced information flow through telecommunications technologies, the growing levels of educated citizens and the influences of globalisation such as through the expansion of the international development industry-including through regional multilateral bodies-has resulted in civil society groups and development organisations critically engaging with and, at times, challenging authority in the region (Brimacombe 2017;Brimacombe et al 2018;Titifanue et al 2017). Moving from 'sporadic' responses to immediate issues of concern, such as Fiji's 1987 military coups (Slatter 2006, p. 29), these groups, both formal and informal, are now engaging in sustained campaigns that are both sociocentric and issues based.…”

Internet under threat?: The politics of online censorship in the Pacific Islands

“…Both in the context of West Papuan activism and climate change advocacy, ICT tools and platforms have rejuvenated a bottom-up push for regional solidarity and identity. Additionally, young technology-savvy feminists in Fiji have leveraged social media's potential to challenge patriarchal attitudes, calls for more gender-responsive institutions and public policies (Brimacombe, Kant, Finau, Tarai & Titifanue, 2018).…”