Social Media and Protest: A Case Study on Anti CAA Protest in India

Proceedings of ‏The 3rd International Conference on Advanced Research in Social Sciences

Year: 2021

DOI:

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Social Media and Protest: A Case Study on Anti CAA Protest in India

Anushk Bhilwar

ABSTRACT: 

The study aims to understand the role of Information and Communication Technology in the current chain of events of various activist protests that have happened in the 21^st Century or are going around the world. It specifically focuses on the student led protest in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (bill) which was floored in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) meeting on December 09, 2019 and passed on December 11, 2019. Starting from North-East to rest of the cities in India, the protestors took over the street in numbers to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (bill) or commonly to be called as the CAA protest or CAB protest. Role of Social Media thus was recognized as one of the major influences in organizing and facilitating these protests across the country. In this study we unfold the active role of Social Media Apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram into creating awareness about the issue, advocating for one’s rights and organizing protests. Thus, looking at a new narrative of activism through online means or to say emergence of “Online Activism” and its impact on on-ground protests.

Keywords: Information and Communication Technology, Citizenship Amendment Act (bill), Social Media, Online Activism, Protests.