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queeringperspectives
Aug 7, 20235 min read

#36 - Social Media, Community Building, and Queer Activism

Updated: Aug 24, 2023

During our conversation with Erik this week, he described his journey towards community organization work. He mentioned that it all started by asking a simple question on Twitter, which later led to the creation of the full-fledged online community Non-Binary Forum Indonesia. This immediately led us to consider that we need to talk a bit about online organizing and activism, and the importance it has for community building for queer people in times of political unrest.

Social media platforms have made it possible for queer communities to form, overcoming geographical barriers and connecting queer people who may feel marginalized or isolated in their offline environments. Online spaces such as Facebook groups, Twitter hashtags, and forums have provided individuals with safe and accepting virtual environments to share their stories, seek support, and celebrate their identities. These platforms have played a crucial role in creating a sense of belonging and empowerment among queer individuals, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.

The pro-democracy movement in Thailand that we discussed last week, for example, began as a Facebook group founded by a gay couple in Bangkok. In November 2019, Tattep and Panumas initiated the Free Youth group to start discussing political ideas that were already circulating among students. The group gained momentum quickly, but the #FreeYouth hashtag only became viral after the couple kissed in Parliament to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. The hashtag ultimately resulted in the formation of the Free Youth Movement.

The hashtag's usage on different social media platforms offered the younger generation a platform to share ideas and comprehend their shared challenges. Consequently, when protests broke out in March 2020, a certain level of Internet-based grassroots mobilization was already in place, ready to voice their demands in the streets.

Queer activism is often depicted as a latecomer and even a distraction to wider civil protests, but in this example, we can see how it was the traction gained online by young people supporting queer activism that ignited the formation of a movement, and not the other way around. The use of online tools facilitated the congregation of supporters in a unified space, driven by an act of queer transgression that resonated with the broader sentiment of fighting for genuine democracy.

Social media has also been a vital tool for queer individuals in other parts of the region to communicate their struggles anonymously, without the risk of being exposed locally. Our guest Erik shared that he immigrated to Thailand to feel safer. However, he was able to connect and organize an Indonesian queer group remotely using online tools. In countries like Indonesia, where queer rights face an uphill battle, social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have played a crucial role in organizing protests, disseminating information, and promoting awareness of issues affecting the queer community. Hashtags such as #PrideJogja and #RepealPatriarchy have gained popularity, attracting support not only from the region, but also from around the world.

Social media has also been important to strengthen representation and promote educational content about queer issues. Influential queer activists and organizations use platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to share personal stories and debunk myths surrounding queer identities. This content can reach anyone and literally save lives by fostering a sense of belonging that transcends the censorship queer people might face locally.

Existing as queer, especially in countries where laws still criminalize it, is already a form of activism. Just knowing that someone like us exists, hearing their stories and learning about their struggles and, most importantly, their joys, helps us feel less alone, simply by giving us hope that things can one day be different.

Bebi Talk is an Indonesian Youtube channel dedicated to queer issues in the country.


However, we still need to keep in mind that while social media is so powerful because it allows anyone to find a hashtag and participate, it also encourages counter-activists and trolls to come to these places. Harassment has been a serious issue since the early days, and the more exposed a queer activist is, the more chances there are that a swarm of trolls can just show up and send insults in mass, threatening physical harm and even doxing personal information or sending the police to an address to endanger lives.

Similarly, authoritarian governments have the resources to hire armies of people and deploy bots to influence trending topics or drown out a hashtag entirely, effectively silencing opposition and spreading misinformation to maintain the status quo. Many uprisings in the Global South have died this way like it happened with the Arab Spring. In the case of Indonesia, the hashtags used to gather support for the queer community have been largely obscured by the overwhelming queerfobic propaganda disseminating through social media.

In many cases, as in Manipur, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, governments can simply block access to the Internet and force social media companies to hand over information about dissidents.

This problem will continue as long as social media is seen as a for-profit private enterprise rather than the public service it should be.

Algorithms are created with the goal of harvesting user data to sell to the highest bidder, manipulating our emotions by showing us content that makes us angry to increase engagement, or creating echo chambers of opinions that already align with our worldview, thriving on the toxic environments they create.

It only took one egocentric billionaire to roll back all the gains that activists and community organizers had fought for in terms of fact-checking, moderation, and content regulation to make Twitter a safer space. Now, a tool that has been vital to organizing queer movements in countries where doing so in public presents a real risk is in danger of disappearing. Not only that, but it's helping far-right and fascist movements gain strength around the world.

What this tells us is that social media is not inherently good or bad. It depends on how we use it, and more importantly, who controls it, because as long as cis white men keep dominating the tech world, their worldviews will continue to become embedded in the algorithms. The fight for social justice should include the fight for social control over the tools we use to build community in the internet age.

But as queer people, we are used to circumventing censorship and surveillance, and we will always find creative ways to find our community. Be it by creating or occupying alternative platforms or making the most of the tools we have while we have them, our efforts are in protecting ourselves first and advocating outwards when we are able, always having a safe place to fall back to.

This also encourages us to leverage the resources and privileges available to us to amplify the calls for international solidarity that queer communities in authoritarian places are making before and during repressive backlashes. When governments and societies tell us that our existence is wrong and our voices are not valid, hearing an echo on the other side of the world can mean the difference between hope and despair.


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