Digital Rights and Media Activism in Kyrgyzstan
Malika Mukambetkalieva
Spread the word, donate money, take a stand, all with the click of a button. What are the possibilities of activism in the digital world?
In the age of the global information network, traditional activism has taken on new forms. The terms slacktivism, clicktivism, hacktivism and many others have emerged. Let's try to understand what it is by taking the example of Kyrgyzstan.
Digital activism is political activism on the Internet or political movements based on it (source). In other words, digital activism is a form of civic engagement based on the use of mass media such as television, radio, internet and social media. The #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movements are some of the most popular examples of media activism that have gone global and demonstrate the powerful influence that media activism can have on social and political processes.
We can try to understand media activism through 5 main categories of practices related to digital activism (source).
The first category describes support for a particular position through the publication or dissemination of information online. This type of media activism can take different forms: blogging, posting on social networks, commenting, reposting and liking content, memes, challenges, using hashtags and other manifestations of digital solidarity. A very recent example is the change of social media profile pictures to the flag of Kyrgyzstan when citizens expressed their disagreement with the decision to change the state attribute.
These forms of media activism can be visual or textual and are used to raise awareness of important social and political issues and to express support for particular movements or ideas. Another prominent example of this category of media activism are the illustrations by Tatiana Zelenskaya, whose latest work was created in support of imprisoned journalists and is entitled 'Scary Tales in the Land of the Setting Sun, New Chapter'.
The second category - "Recruitment and Movement Building" - is aimed at the mass involvement of people in solving social and political problems. They differ from the first category (individual acts of advocacy) in that they focus on creating and supporting collective action. Examples include social movement campaigns such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. They began as individual actions but have grown into powerful communities with shared goals and identities.
The third category 'organising and coordinating media activism' includes planning and implementing online and offline actions, coordinating and mobilising through social media and hashtags. For example, every year on 8 March in Kyrgyzstan there are peaceful marches for women's rights, and the bishkekfeminists page coordinates the march by sharing the route, safety memo, rules, etc.
The category 'online direct action' includes protest and dissent actions carried out in the digital space. Examples include the creation of political parodies, the use of memes or software for ideological purposes. Hacktivism, often associated with politically motivated hacking, can also be a form of direct action involving computer skills.
Category five - Research and documentation are important aspects of media activism, which can include documenting human rights abuses, disseminating information through various channels, including the media and organisations, or reporting directly to the authorities. An example of this is election monitoring: in the run-up to the 2021 presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan, activists were involved in monitoring the process to prevent vote rigging.
There are, of course, other forms of 'digital activism', one of which is the online collection of petitions. Petitions with one or another demand appear regularly on the change.org platform. For example, an initiative to ban the development of a uranium mine in Issyk-Kul, a demand to stop using the wrong name for the country "Kirgizstan", a petition to withdraw the draft law "On Foreign Representatives", and so on.
One of the most prominent initiatives on this platform was a petition for the resignation of President Soroonbai Jeenbekov in July 2020, when COVID-19 claimed dozens of lives in the country. The portal was blocked after this initiative, and access was not reopened until March 2021.
All these movements seem very far-reaching, but how effective is media activism really?
Media activism is praised for its wide reach, immediacy, directness, interactive potential and empowerment, but it is often criticised for its low effectiveness.
The main downside is seen as a disconnect from reality, when a reposting of a publication is the end of any manifestation of activism and the desire for change is diminished because the contribution has already been made. Many critics believe that media activism often fails to measure the level of real participation and engagement.
It is also important to remember that for many people, the digital world is the environment in which views and attitudes towards reality are formed. Media activism alone, without going offline, may seem pointless, but it offers alternative and sometimes more effective ways of disseminating and engaging people on current issues.
Particularly in a context where traditional media is controlled and censored by the authorities, digital activism offers citizens the opportunity to express their views and share information via the Internet and social media.
So what are digital rights and how do they relate to media activism?
In the digital age, human interaction with information and technology is becoming an integral part of everyday life. In this context, an increasingly relevant issue - digital rights - emerges.
Digital rights are fundamental human rights and freedoms in the digital space.
It is possible to distinguish the main categories of rights that are defined by digital and generally accepted (source):
- 1 The right to freedom of expression and opinion;
- 2 The right to disseminate, receive and seek information;
- 3 The right to privacy on the Internet;
- 4 The right to freedom of association;
Media activism and digital rights are closely linked, as both concepts aim to ensure access to information, freedom of expression and participation in public dialogue.
In the Kyrgyz context, with the rapid development of digital technologies, the expansion of the online space and increased state censorship, media activism and digital rights become particularly important.
Understanding the concept of digital rights and the use of media activism tools becomes even more important in the face of pressure on the media and civil society sector, shrinking civic space and new ways of regulating freedom of expression.