digital activism

Review of “Digital Activism, Community Media, and Sustainable Communication in Latin America”. edited by Cheryl Martens, Cristina Venegas & Franklin Salvio Sharupi Tapuy. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. 358 pp., €85.59 (p/b), ISBN 978-3-030-45393-0

This study explores the dynamics of digital activism and perceived civic influence within Persian-language Twitter discourse, focusing on tweets associated with the Iranian petition platform Karzar. Drawing on Jürgen Habermas’s concept of the public sphere, the research investigates whether and how Twitter functions as a space for civic dialogue, participatory discourse, and collective demand-making. Using quantitative content analysis, 100 high-engagement tweets (i.e., those with the most likes) containing the keyword “Karzar” were analyzed in terms of content type, perceived influence, campaign category, and sentiment. The findings reveal that a substantial portion of users demonstrate medium to high levels of perceived influence, particularly in tweets framed as calls to action or expressions of support. While humorous or satirical content was largely devoid of perceived efficacy, politically and socially charged campaigns elicited polarized reactions, suggesting the emergence of a contested digital public sphere. Despite the limitations of the platform and dataset, the study highlights the potential of Persian Twitter to function as a hybrid space for digital civic engagement and deliberation in contemporary Iran. It also raises critical questions about the efficacy, limitations, and future trajectory of decentralized digital activism in restrictive media environments.