Analyzing the Role of Social Media as a Catalyst in the Feminist Campaign in the Global South Using #WomenLifeFreedom as an Example

Abstract

The death of Masha Amini in Iran gained significant attention and developed into the #WomenLifeFreedom campaign on social media. The current study explores the positive role of social media in the development of feminism. However, most of the current research focuses on the global perspective or feminist campaigns in the Global North, and there is a gap in the research on social media in the development of feminism in the Global South. Therefore, this paper analyses the #WomenLifeFreedom campaign on social media platforms through a case study method in qualitative research. This paper attempts to explore the catalytic role of social media in the feminist campaign in the Global South. The results show that social media, with its unique qualities of disintermediation, replicability, and diverse participation, has helped the Global South feminist campaign increase the visibility of women in the Global South, the influence of feminist ideas, and the engagement of the feminist campaign. In addition, to address the current problems of low diversity of visibility, insufficient de-Westernization, and inadequate activism in the Global South feminist campaign, this paper suggests that it needs to increase the visibility of other sexual minorities, combine social media and mainstream media to challenge the master narrative dominated by the Global North, and increase calls for practical action.