Instagram, TikTok and the battle of hearts and minds: Social media's impact on activism

Armed with little more than a camera and a smartphone, the likes of Motaz Azaiza - a 24-year-old part-time producer with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) - and 22-year-old Plestia Alaqad, who previously worked with a marketing agency, became independent journalists, documenting Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Instagram.³

A line is typically drawn between journalism and activism, with traditional media attempting to remain objective in most circumstances.

However, the men and women capturing the suffering of ordinary Palestinians often blurred that line, making impassioned pleas for an end to the Israeli incursion into Gaza.

After all, they could hardly be expected to remain neutral as they themselves are forced to live through the carnage and displacement caused by the conflict.

Their work – documenting injured and dying children as well as their distraught parents, the ruins of bombed apartment buildings and subsequently the displacement of millions of Gazan residents – via photos and videos posted on Instagram could be considered a form of activism.

It circumvented the restrictions faced by other journalists, reaching millions, including many who were perhaps unaware of the situation faced by Palestinians prior to this.⁴

This growing awareness of the humanitarian crisis faced by Gazans, in turn, inspired widespread worldwide protests, calling for a ceasefire amid the Israeli invasion of the enclave.

Parallels can be drawn with how, more than half a century earlier, television news reports on the Vietnam War brought the horrors of the war into the living rooms of the United States, galvanising the anti-war movement of the time.⁵

Closer to home, this year, the Singapore Police Force and National Parks Board disallowed all public rallies on the Israel-Gaza war, citing public safety and security concerns.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority would also later warn travellers at Singapore’s checkpoints against wearing or displaying items related to the Middle East conflict.

This is despite previous rallies on the issue being allowed, including a 2014 demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause at Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park amid tensions in Gaza at the time.⁶

Still, social media-driven campaigns have allowed people here to show solidarity with the people of Gaza, albeit in a more subdued manner.

These include calls to donate to humanitarian organisations on the ground in the Gaza Strip, wearing particular colours of clothing on specific days as a form of silent protest, and writing to political leaders to persuade the authorities to call for an end to hostilities in the region.⁷

Still, social media is not without its shortcomings, not least because of how content moderation on such online platforms tends to be an opaque matter.

Some Instagram users have claimed the platform had “shadowbanned” their posts about Gaza — a term referring to a type of platform moderation that limits the reach of certain content, rather than explicitly banning it.⁸

In October, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, blamed this on a bug, claiming this affected accounts “equally around the globe”, regardless of the nature of their content.⁹

There is also the danger of the spread of misinformation and disinformation, given the nature of social media algorithms to be driven by controversy and polarisation.

CNA reported in November that there was what it described as a “steady stream of inaccurate content” on the war spreading on the short video platform TikTok.¹⁰

For example, video footage of the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003 was misleadingly identified as being that of Gaza during the current conflict.

Experts cited by the regional media outfit in its article warned such misinformation could lead to consequences, such as stoking division between different religious groups.

So, does this mean that social media is unreliable as a means of raising awareness and calling for action with regard to certain causes?

I think this is hardly the case, as can be seen in how scenes of the carnage in Gaza have compelled many who were previously uninformed on the matter to speak up for the suffering of innocent Palestinians.

Rather, what is needed is for us to be conscientious consumers of social media — as we should be of traditional media or any other sources of information we encounter as well.

Even as we turn to Instagram or TikTok for news, whether on Palestine or other issues, we should be aware of the limitations of these platforms and do our best to verify information that seems unbelievable or comes from sources that may appear to be unreliable.

And of course, we should strive to ensure that our activism on social media translates itself into real-world action, wherever and however possible.