Social Movements, Platforms, and In/Visibility

The project studies contemporary social movements and explores the role of digital platforms in shaping their power and social influence. The researchers' basic assumption is that the mobilization and organization of social movements depend on their visibility on digital platforms. Platforms such as Instagram, Telegram, or Tiktok influence the visibility of social movements through filter settings and content moderation and shape the possibilities of actors to organize themselves collectively. Thus, the management of visibility on (multiple) digital platforms are key to the emergence and success of social movements. This research project aims to understand trajectories of visibility and invisibility of social movements that result from the interplay between the moderation practices and filtering properties of platforms (what platforms do with activists) and the practices of activists (what activists do with platforms).