Universitas Katolik Parahyangan Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Program Studi Ilmu Hubungan Internasional
Terakreditasi A
SK BAN –PT NO: 3095/SK/BAN-PT/Akred/S/VIII/2019
Twitter’s Role in Spreading the #MeToo Movement in India
Skripsi
Oleh Sheila Lalita 2016330031
Bandung
2019
Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Program Studi Ilmu Hubungan Internasional
Terakreditasi A
SK BAN –PT NO: 3095/SK/BAN-PT/Akred/S/VIII/2019
Twitter’s Role in Spreading the #MeToo Movement in India
Skripsi
Oleh Sheila Lalita 2016330031
Pembimbing
Elisabeth Adyiningtyas Satya Dewi, S.IP., M.A., Ph.D.
Bandung
2019
i
ABSTRAK Nama : Sheila Lalita
NPM : 2016330031
Judul Skripsi : Peran Twitter dalam Penyebaran Gerakan #MeToo di India
Gerakan #MeToo mendapatkan banyak perhatian melalui Twitter pada tahun 2017 setelah aktris Alyssa Milano mencuit menggunakan tanda tagar tersebut dengan harapan bahwa ia dapat menunjukkan besaran isu pelecehan dan kekerasan seksual di Amerika Serikat. Hal tersebut menyebabkan serangkaian tanggapan dari khalayak publik, mendorong para korban untuk menyampaikan pengalaman mereka melalui penggunaan tanda tagar tersebut dan menyebabkan pendukung untuk menggunakannya sebagai tempat untuk meningkatkan kesadaran mengenai isu tersebut. Penyebarannya terjadi dengan cepat, diadopsi ke dalam berabgai bahasa tidak lama setelahnya. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa batasan dalam media sosial yang dapat dengan mudah berubah-ubah telah berhasil membawa perubahan dengan cepat sehingga penggunaan tanda tagar tersebut dapat mencapai India setahun kemudian. Keberadaan tanda tagar tersebut menginspirasi tokoh-tokoh perempuan papan atas di industri hiburan India untuk angkat bicara dan memulai gerakannya sendiri. Penelitian ini dilakukan demi menjawab pertanyaan: “Bagaimana Twitter membantu penyebaran gerakan
#MeToo di India?” dengan cara menentukan apakah tanda tagar tersebut memang merupakan sebuah bentuk gerakan sosial melalui penggunakan Teori Gerakan Sosial dan memahami bagaimana gerakan tersebut dapat tersebar melalui Teori Jaringan Aktivis Global dan Model SPIN. Hasil penelitian menemukan bahwa penggunaan tanda tagar #MeToo merupakan sebuah bentuk gerakan sosial menurut teori gerakan sosial. Penyebarannya melalui internet tidak membutuhkan biaya banyak, sehingga membuat batasan yang ada lebih fleksibel dan dapat dengan mudah melewati batasan negara. Selain itu, batasan yang fleksibel juga telah membantu pengguna Twitter untuk merasa seolah mereka merupakan sebuah bagian dari komunitas dengan adanya arus komunikasi yang lancar antar para pengguna. Penelitian dilakukan melalui metode kualitatif dan dibatasi dengan kasus pelecehan di lingkup ruang kerja dengan pembatasan pada tahun 2017 hingga awal tahun 2019.
Kata kunci: Twitter, #MeToo, Hashtag, SAAE, dan Cuitan.
ABSTRACT Name : Sheila Lalita
Student Number : 2016330031
Thesis’s Title : Twitter’s Role in Spreading the #MeToo Movement in India
The #MeToo Movement gained a lot of attention through Twitter in 2017 after actress Alyssa Milano first tweeted the hashtag in hopes that it would show the magnitude of the issue of sexual harassment and assault in the United States. It triggered a chain reaction, causing victims and supporters alike to use the hashtag as a channel to share their experiences of abuse and raise awareness on the issue.
The spread happened at a rapid pace, quickly having other languages using the hashtag soon thereafter, showing that the fluid boundary of social media has allowed for such rapid spread to happen until it eventually reaches India a year later. The hashtag has inspired numerous prominent women in the entertainment industry to speak up and essentially sparking a movement of their own. This thesis seeks to answer the question: “How does Twitter help in spreading the #MeToo movement in India?” by determining if the hashtag was a form of social
movement through the use of the Social Movement Theory and understanding how it spread through the Global Activist Network Theory and the SPIN Model it offers. The research has found that the hashtag #MeToo is a form of social
movement in accordance to the social movement theory. The spread of it through the internet does not need much cost, making existing boundaries flexible and can easily exceed the national boundary. Furthermore, the flexible boundary has included Twitter users so much that it makes them feel as if they are a part of a community due to the easy flow of communication. The research is conducted through qualitative research and is only limited to the cases of workplace sexual harassment with 2017 until early 2019 as the timeframe relevant to the movement.
Keyword: Twitter, #MeToo, Hashtag, SAAE, and Tweets
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FOREWORD
By the God’s grace, this thesis has been finalized just in time. The research is conducted in order to understand Twitter’s role in spreading the #MeToo Movement in India, as one of the countries who still struggle with the issue of workplace sexual harassment and assault.
Workplace sexual harassment and assault has become a prominent problem, mainly done by men in positions of power. They abuse their power to pressure and manipulate women who typically are in a much subordinate position compared to them, essentially pressuring them into agreement due to the fear of losing their livelihood or career. Such misconduct strips women off the authority they have over their body, violating their basic human rights, and affect their well-being in the long term. It creates an unsafe environment for women to work in, hindering them from contributing to the society to the fullest of their capacity.
In combatting the issue, states are still oftentimes lacking in their regulations. Most existing requirements require victims to have witnesses even though most cases of misconduct happen in a private space for no one to see.
Moreover, victims are still asked dehumanizing questions that make them feel alienated and guilty such as questions about the clothing they wore when it happened, their state of intoxication, and similar questions to that. The regulations have not yet been adjusted to make the victims comfortable in speaking up, but rather make them feel like they had done something wrong and had inflicted the assault upon themselves. To voice out their frustration and to raise awareness of how big of an issue this is, people go to activism through the #MeToo movement to make a change.
Through the following paragraph, the author would like to show gratitude towards Mba Elisabeth A. S. Dewi, S.IP., M.A., Ph.D. for guiding me through the process of writing this. The author realize that she is still heavily flawed, thus any constructive criticism is welcomed to improve further improve this piece of writing.
Thank you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.” – At-Talaq
(65:3)
I have done my best in doing this thesis, it was by His grace that I was able to finish it. It is with the support of the following people that I was able to finish it,
too.
Family – The people who has been there for me ever since I was put into this world.
If not for them, I will not be the person I am today. They taught me the most important values in life, one of it was to never give up. Papa, thank you for encouraging me to move forward when we both know that I’ve made multiple mistakes. Ade, thank you for leaving little notes of encouragement. I love you both.
Elisabeth Adyiningtyas Satya Dewi, S.IP., M.A., Ph.D. – As a lecturer I look up to the most, thank you for guiding me this far. I’m eternally grateful for all the insights you have given me. Doing this research was a long process, but you were patient in helping me even when I wasn’t. I hope that I can still learn from you in the future, mba.
Anyeonghaseyo (Astri, Dhea, Icha, Nasya, Nuna, Puput, Shafa) – You’ve all been there with me since high school and has always been a supportive force in my life. We might not meet as much, but whenever we do, I’m thankful that you always share your life with me. That way, we have always been able to learn from one another. You all inspire me in different ways, I wish you all the best of luck in the future.
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Bagoes, Nadine, Syifa – You’ve all been there since high school, too, and have always been those who actively encourage me to embrace myself. You all remind me time and time again to be kinder to myself and to work at my own pace, something I keep chanting to myself as I was working on this research. So thank you, without any of you I wouldn’t be here.
Pika Pika Bitch (Alanna, Kezia, Olivia, Taya) – We haven’t been friends for long, maybe, but I feel like I’ve known you all for a lifetime. Thank you for always believing in me even when I’m having trouble believing in myself. If not for your kindness and humor, I wouldn’t still be sane. I hope you all know that you all inspire me to be better every day, it makes me sad whenever I remember that we won’t be seeing much of each other again soon. It’ll be hard to shake off the habit of asking you all to hang out of the blue. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of you, I know you’ll all do well!
Savitri – I know that your first impression of me wasn’t the very best, but I’m glad we’ve moved past that and become that much closer throughout the years. Thank you for always keeping me entertained with your… adventures. You wear your heart on your sleeve, I hope you know that there’s bravery in that. It reminds be to still be loving and to not always see the worst in situations. So thank you, let’s keep moving forward together!
Matter & Research IREC 2018-2019 – I’m so grateful to have been part of such a wonderful team. You all gave me the chance to grow as a person, pushing me to break out of my comfort zone. I learned a lot from each of you, probably why I have a little more confidence in myself. I wish that I had been able to stay as part of the team for much longer. Imagine all the fun we would have… One of you probably won’t shut up about being a Sagittarius. But hey, hopefully we’ll always stay in touch. I know every one of you will do amazing things in the future.
Federal Republic of Germany but not the country – You’re all amazing people!
You could’ve easily focused on yourself, Prakdip scored individually anyway, but all of you decided to help each other anyway. Not just in Prakdip, but practically in everything else. We talked about random things in-between practice, laughed over memes, shared our struggles with one another, and became that much closer in the span of a few months. Good luck in the future, guys! Thank you for making last semester easier, allowing me to finish this in time.
To those I met through that cursed blue bird app – Runaways GC, it started at Discord but Twitter is certainly where we thrive. Thank you for all the jokes, memes, and that one binge watch session I joined. You’re the reason I smile when things get rough, please know this even though I’m not in the GC much anymore.
Special thanks to those moots who I’m willing to suspended for: Ira, Martina, Ana, San, Putri, Lila, Fa and Rin (even though we met on Line). All of you are always willing to drop everything just to make sure I’m okay and I just want you all to know that I’m so willing to do the same for you all. Time zone and distance really got nothing on us, being physically here doesn’t mean a thing when we all can make each other smile even through a screen. I hope I can do the same for you all, thank you for making my days that much brighter.
Twice – Last year was a tough one, but the presence of these 9 girls have definitely helped me get through it. It wasn’t exactly the best year for them either, but they still move forward despite that, inspiring me to keep moving forward myself. Thank you for debuting and pursuing your dream, I hope you know that you bring more joy than you bring sorrow. Your songs never fail to put a smile on my face, thank you for being my source of strength.
Myself – There were moments when you felt like giving up, but didn’t. Let’s continue doing so in the future, too.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstrak ...i
Abstract ... ii
Foreword ... iii
Acknowledgement ...iv
Table of Contents ... vii
Picture List ...ix
Acronym List ... x
Chapter I: Introduction ... 1
1.1. Background ... 1
1.2. Problem Identification ... 5
1.2.1. Limitation of Problem ... 7
1.2.2. Research Question ... 8
1.3. Research Objective ... 8
1.4. Literature Review ... 8
1.5. Theoretical Framework ... 12
1.6. Research Methodologies and Data Collecting Technique ... 16
1.6.1. Research Methodologies ... 16
1.6.2. Data Collecting Technique... 17
1.7. Systematics of Discussion ... 17
Chapter II: The Emergence of #MeToo Movement ... 19
2.1. History of the #MeToo Movement ... 20
2.2. #MeToo Movement’s Raise into Prominence in 2017 ... 22
2.3. #MeToo Movement’s Raise into Prominence in India ... 25
Chapter III: The Rise of Social Media and the Emergence of Twitter ... 28
3.1. New Media and the Rise of Social Media... 28
3.2. Twitter as a Social Media Platform... 31
3.2.1. History of Twitter ... 31
3.2.2. The Evolution of Twitter’s Feature ... 34
Chapter IV: Twitter’s Role in the Spread of the #MeToo Movement in India ... 39
4.1. Redefining the hashtag #MeToo as a Social Movement Within the Twitter Sphere ... 40
4.2. Convergence of Telecommunication Devices and Fluid Boundaries in Broadening The #MeToo Movement’s Scale ... 45
4.3. Twitter as a Safe Space in Advancing the #MeToo Movement in India ... 48
Chapter V: Conclusion ... 55
Bibliography ... 59
ix
PICTURE LIST
Picture 3.1.: The Apprehension of a Man on Twitter ... 37
Picture 4.1.1.: Alyssa Milano’s original tweet. ... 40
Picture 4.1.2.: Response to Milano’s tweet ... 40
Picture 4.1.3.: Response to Milano’s tweet detailing the user’s experience ... 41
Picture 4.1.4.: The number of tweets with the #MeToo Hashtag circulating on Twitter ... 42
Picture 4.1.5.: The number of original tweets and the number of Retweets ... 43
Picture 4.2.1.: Number of tweets using the hashtag in different languages ... 47
Picture 4.3.1.: Mahima Kukreja’s thread on Twitter ... 49
Picture 4.3.2.: Mahima Kukreja’s thread on Twitter ... 49
Picture 4.3.3.: India’s NCW announcement ... 52
ACRONYM LIST
CINTAA Cine & TV Artistes’ Association
EEOC The US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission
ICC Internal Complaints Committee
IGOs Intergovernmental Organizations
INGOs International Non-Governmental Organizations MNCs Multinational Corporations
NCW National Commission for Women
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
POSH Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace SAAE Sexual Abuse, Assault, or Exploitation
SXSWi South by Southwest Interactive
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Chapter I Introduction
1.1 Background
Mankind is known as sociable beings. We always communicate in numerous ways, either by exchanging greetings or long talks over lunch. Through communication, humans also exchange information, whether to get to know the person they are talking to or to be aware of any phenomenon happening. As a result, humans have always been yearning for information to satisfy their need for awareness.
Throughout history, mankind has evolved in numerous ways in order to fulfill their increasing needs. The evolution includes humans’ information system, supported through the development of technologies throughout the years. It started in the 1700s, when manufacturing was done through hand tools or basic machines, confined within people’s homes. The first revolutionary development in manufacturing of goods was marked during the first industrial revolution during the 18th century, a time when agrarian societies in Europe and America geared towards an industrialized one. During this time, steam machine was first founded to help accelerate the productivity in manufacturing of goods. With the effective use of time and resources, it increases the number of goods made and with it, the consumption of the people. Furthermore, the steam engine has allowed for the advancement of transportation, starting from the use of it on trains and ships that allowed people and goods to travel easily across borders. With a taste of what advancement could provide for the people, humans finally felt the urgency in advancing special-purpose machinery, factories, and mass production, keeping in mind the scientific aspect that could help accelerate the effectivity of said machinery.1
1 “Industrial Revolution,” History, 29 October 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/industrial- revolution/industrial-revolution, accessed by 25 March 2019
With the increasing spread as the aftermath of the first industrial revolution, a new wave of inventions emerged. In the science field, it continues to advance, specifically in chemistry, which cause changes in agriculture and medicine. When scientists were able to find a way to use petroleum, it quickly became an important energy source, which also pushed the development of mobile machines such as automobiles and trucks. Around this time, electricity was first developed as a new means of delivering energy. Soon after, the use of it became widespread in factories and houses. With the new wave of inventions, a contemporary process of combining several inventions in creating a revolutionized manufacturing, transportation, and communication technology then became the prominent characteristic of the second industrial revolution.2 The creation of such technologies was what allowed Henry Ford to master the moving assembly line that could mass produce goods. His model was then used by other businesses, leading business enterprises into the age of mass production that allowed them to reach far broader market.3
As technological advancement continued to prevail, humans continue to find ways to make their lives easier. During the late 1950s to the late 1970s, there was an eminent trend in the conversion of technology with analog characteristics into a digital format. An easy example of this invention was the shift from analogue to digitally recorded music in the form of vinyl records and cassette tapes.4 The shift into a more digital format then triggered the development of the digital electronic computer, personal computer, computer networking, the internet, digital broadcasting, and 3G phone later on, which became the notable characteristic of the third industrial revolution. With the development of the aforementioned
2 “The Second Phase of the Industrial Revolution: 1850-1940,” Encyclopedia,
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/second- phase-industrial-revolution-1850-1940, accessed by 25 March 2019
3 “The Third Industrial Revolution,” The Economist, 21 April 2012,
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2012/04/21/the-third-industrial-revolution, accessed by 25 March 2019
4 "The Digital Revolution Ahead for the Audio Industry," Business Week. New York, 16 March 1981, p. 40D.
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technologies, people are finally able to have greater interconnectedness and easier access to communication and information.5
The large impact from the increasing interconnectedness and the invention of the internet was not only limited to the markets, but it also has impacted the world as a whole. The internet has become more integrated on a day-to-day basis, with widespread connectivity accessible to people all over the world. The easy access allows the media to spread information at anytime and anyplace, providing users with any information they might need without a stop. Information is usually spread through websites or other emerging new media. In this case, easier access would not mean anything if there were no proper platform that allows people easier access to communication and the gathering of information. This is why the creation of a new type of media that is social media becomes crucial.
Social media acts as a platform where people could gain access to information easily and with it, the ability to share it as easily. The world has to adjust to the rapid growth of the internet, and with the emergence of social media, traditional media is no exception to that. Traditional media, such as news network or magazine, then shares the information they have gathered through social media while also becoming an important agent in containing said information. They have the ability to either fuel the widespread of any information gathered from any social media platform or to prevent it from spreading any further. What traditional media has no control over, though, is how social media users decide to do with that information.
Furthermore, the easy access to social media allows diverse groups of people, with varied backgrounds, to use it as they wish. Their purposes also varied, commonly for information, education, entertainment, communication, or sometimes simply to voice out their opinion, especially for groups that do not have the capability to voice it out under certain political climate. As an example, the issue of sexual harassment is usually brought up in many social media platforms. Sexual
5 “The third industrial revolution,” Ibid.
abuse/harassment is defined as an undesired sexual advances made by a person upon another, oftentimes done by force, using threat, or by taking advantage of people unable to give consent. It is a misconduct that unfortunately still happens mostly to women, no matter the background, with most perpetrators as someone the victims know.6 Sexual harassment is considered as illegal sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.7
There are several reasons why victims choose to share their stories on social media, but mostly it is because they feel helpless. Under certain government, there might not be any adequate law protecting them, and so they choose to voice out their frustration through social media. They might even be facing the consequences of social stigma surrounding sexual harassment, being shunned by the society instead of being protected. Social media becomes a safe haven because when an individual shares the opinion of other individuals on social media, such as a story of their struggles, it then becomes a collective opinion among them. Oftentimes, they share it to their peers, gathering attention as they start to mobilize people into joining them. When a certain collective opinion on a certain issue has gained the attention of many, they could start a collective action in addressing the issue. With these elements in mind, it then becomes the start of a movement.
While initially mass media is used to help raise awareness by igniting a debate around an issue, energizing a movement by mobilizing a population to action, and building their legitimacy in the political sphere, with the help of digital media, specifically social media, a social movement could be started. It is called
“E-Movements” and it has a distinction from traditional social media movements in which they have more of the freedom to operate than the traditionally centralized and hierarchical organization of command structure. With E-movements, the internet plays a huge role in accelerating the normal process of a political movement
6 “Sexual Abuse,” American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/topics/sexual- abuse/index, accessed by 26 March 2019
7 Elyse Shaw, Ariane Hegewisch, and Cynthia Hess, “Sexual Harassment and Assault at Work:
Understanding the Costs,” Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 15 October 2015, https://iwpr.org/publications/sexual-harassment-work-cost/, accessed by 26 March 2019
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through virtual petitions, online donations, platforms to evoke debates on the issue, and the recruitment process for meetings and protests. Typically, through deliberate collection of signatures on a virtual petition, e-movement tries to influence party politics with it. Another prominent quality of an e-movement is that it is likely a result of the passive nature of the internet, where people only discover what they seek based on the algorithms of their interest. Rather being a bad thing, this structure allows political mobilization to move rather effortlessly because like- minded people are more likely to connect. Lastly, e-movement also involves its supporters in the decision-making process, allowing movement groups to represent and mobilize the issue while avoiding ones that will likely break the organization.8
1.2. Problem Identification
The issue of sexual harassment and assault itself garnered the public’s attention in October 2017, when women in American entertainment industry came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and assault by producer Harvey Weinstein. Soon after, people started using the hashtag #MeToo, first founded by Tarana Burke around 2006 and finally rose back to prominence after the allegation, to share their own stories of harassment and assault that had happened in the workplace by mostly men in positions of power.9
Aside from it being a criminal offense, any form of sexual harassment happening in a workplace is also recognized as a form of employment discrimination by the law. The US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) stated that any unwelcome verbal, visual, nonverbal, or physical conduct with a sexual nature behind it constitutes as sexual harassment when it directly or indirectly affects an individual’s employment, work performance, or a hostile work
8 Saswati Gangopadhyay, “Digital Media and Social Movements,”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311873496_Digital_Media_and_Social_Movements, accessed by 26 March 2019
9 Anna North, “The #MeToo Movement and its Evolution, Explained,” Vox, 11 October 2018, https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/9/17933746/me-too-movement-metoo-brett-kavanaugh- weinstein, accessed by 26 March 2019
environment. The problem of workplace sexual harassment and assault is a prominent one. In 2017, the EEOC had received 26,978 claims of workplace harassment, with 12,428 of them about sex-based harassment and 6,696 of them specifically about sexual harassment. Between 2005 and 2015, women made eight in ten sexual harassment allegations to the EEOC. Among them, black women are the most likely to experience it, with 1 in 17 sexual harassment charges also claimed that racial discrimination happened along with it. Studies also suggest that the numbers given was only one in ten to ever formally report incidents of sexual harassment, as victims mostly never formally file any charges because of the lack of accessibility to proper complaint processes, pure embarrassment, or fear of retaliation, which is justified as suggested by an analysis of EEOC data that 71 percent of the charges included a charge of retaliation.
There is also great implications left for the victims to deal with in numerous ways, such as mentally, physically, or financially. The greatest impact is its effect on the victim’s mental health, as research found that it can lead to depression with one in ten women usually had severe symptoms of PTSD that could last for many years after. Even in less severe and non-frequent cases, harassment still has a significant effect on the psychological well-being and work behavior of the victims.
In addition to the negative mental health implication, there is also a higher risk of long-term physical problems in a frequent gender-based harassment. Other than health implications, it also limits women from learning opportunities as they become uncomfortable with a hostile working environment. This restrains them from any career advancement, sometimes even forcing them to give up on their career or s`tep down from any leadership opportunities in order to avoid the perpetrator. Unemployment then became a prominent implication of workplace sexual harassment along with the likelihood of long-term consequences of harassment on the victims’ earnings.10
10 Ibid. 5.
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The issue of workplace sexual harassment has been brought up through the hashtag #MeToo and has garnered the public attention and sparking conversation within the Twitter sphere overtime. Due to its direct impact to the people’s quality of life, the hashtag becomes the forefront of a movement spread online. While there had been movements that used social media to try to spread its reach, the #MeToo movement’s raise into prominence was sparked online without any conscious effort to utilize it. Twitter algorithm has allowed people with similar experience and mindset to be gathered through the hashtag, connecting with one another and further sharing their opinion within the circle of like-minded people. The research is going to explain Twitter’s role in spreading the movement itself.
1.2.1. Limitation of Problem
The following thesis limits the actors involved, the time period, and the type of sexual harassment discussed. The important actors of this thesis include the victims who came forward to press charges against Harvey Weinstein as they are the people who brought the issue of sexual harassment and assault to light, a select few of celebrities who have come forward during the rise of the #MeToo movement, and Twitter as a social media platform.
As for the limitation in time period, the analysis starts from 2017, when the movement went into prominence and started to broaden its scale, until early 2019 as it is a crucial time when actions are starting to be taken in regards of the issue. Furthermore, the author limits the type of sexual harassment and assault discussed into workplace sexual harassment and assault as it is the main focus of the #MeToo movement itself. While there may be implications from the #MeToo movement to the activism for other types of sexual harassment and assault, the author does not thoroughly discuss it in the following thesis.
1.2.2. Research Question
The following thesis seeks to answer the question of: How does Twitter help in spreading the #MeToo movement in India?
1.3. Research Objective
The following thesis seeks to complement existing research on #MeToo as a movement as well as social media’s role in the widespread of a movement. It also seeks to complement any existing research in analyzing the patterns of an E- movement. Lastly, the making of this thesis is ultimately to fulfill the requirement needed for the author to complete a bachelor degree in the department of International Relations.
1.4. Literature Review
Social media has become inseparable from our day-to-day lives that we have become dependant on it. This could be seen through the increasing usage of social media which has transformed the communication process into a platform to mobilize thoughts, further solidifying social media as a democratic tool for its users.
The distribution of thoughts is contributing towards social movement with the concept of ‘beyond space’. Aakash Shaw, through a journal article titled Role of Social Media in Social Mobilization, drew similarity of social media and the public sphere concept coined by Habermas, in which ‘beyond space’ has gone through both literal and structural changes. It was considered as an output of modernism by emphasizing the re-interpretations of the obsolete technological determinism approach. The cultural dimension of communication has intensified due to its virtual feature, which gives it an essential global character. The characteristic allows people from across the globe to contribute their thoughts.
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Moreover, the journal article mentioned that digital activism, or e- movement, emerged along with the extensive use of social media as it has become a communicative global forum with its increasing use as a platform to express oneself. The platform creates a new order of social and communicative realities. It has the power to be the platform for the interface between people who have similar views and serve as a powerful tool in influencing public opinion, going as far to influencing the government in their policy-making process. In terms of sparking social movements, social media provides the opportunity to communicate without any influence from the government, preventing them from being dictated by how mainstream media has framed social movements.
The lack of monitoring from the government allows the reshaping of social movement and opposition founded in social media. It gave birth to resistance culture, delivered from instant sharing feature of social media that helps people understand prospective views and organize social circles by drawing individual views. This cultivates a collective action, creating events and advertising virtual protests to a global platform without time and space constraints. It does not limit its users into political identities whilst creating alternative dimensions in social realities.11
The belief that the lack of limitation in social media plays a huge role in the emergence of movements in it is also shared by Lance Bennett in New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism, in which he stated that “communication in distributed networks becomes potentially transformative when networks spill outside of the control of established organization.” In this case, when networks are not defined by any agenda, there is a possibility that it could become a more sustainable democratic organization. When it happens, they may simultaneously exhibit a high volume of interactive communication completed with web-based
11 Aakash Shaw, “Role of Social Media in Social Mobilization,” Global Media Journal (2016: Vol 7), accessed by 10 February 2018, http://www.caluniv.ac.in/global-mdia-journal/COMMENT- 2016-NOV/C-5-F.pdf
organizing and planning while providing the public with large volumes of politically diverse information.
It further explains that when social media is not controlled by any particular organizational centers, it embodies the internet’s potential as an open public sphere.
With such open space, ideas can be exchanged effectively in a global scope without being dependent on mass media channels for information or for recognition.
Furthermore, social media has numerous connecting points that allows a more straightforward coordination of a movement organization. Even when there is a change of account, it will still be easy to track down. It should be noted that there is still the challenge to censor or subvert widely distributed communication due to the leaderless and virtually anonymous nature of social media. Despite that, social media’s capacity to transform time, space, costs, and the roles of information producers and consumers allows the emergence of movements in it.12
Though there are beneficial effects of social media, there are also negative repercussions to it. The term “post-truth” was named as the international word of the year in 2016 by Oxford Dictionaries, meaning that it “relates to or denotes circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. The word “fake news” started circulating as a rather judgmental term to describe any news found in social media that does not go with the interests or the belief of a user. When talking about social media, there is a filter bubble that allows users to see stories that matches the users’
interest, analyzed through their past social media activity. A Facebook study has found that Facebook had intentionally manipulated 700,000 users’ news feed to see if they could find any emotional effects. Furthermore, the filter bubble has the tendency to coincide with the user’s personal belief and has the potential to affirm their biases. The issue that arises from such manipulation is users’ tendency to
12 Lance Bennett, “New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism,” in Contesting Media Power (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003),
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240949325_New_Media_Power_The_Internet_and_Glo bal_Activism, accessed by 27 March 2019
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immediately dismiss any information that does not conform to their existing belief.
They can go as far to labelling it as “fake news”.13
As a response to the situation explained above, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology suggests that there is a need for media literacy as a means to fight off the spread of false information. Explaining how scholars had come to a consensus in the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy in 1992, the book had mentioned that media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a variety of forms and if a person is of a media literate, then they should be able to decode, evaluate, analyze, and produce printed and electronic media. The purpose of media literacy itself is for people to be able to better protect themselves from unwanted effects from the exposure made by mass media.14
After analyzing every piece of literature above, it can be concluded that social media is a platform with little limitation, allowing its users to express their opinions without much constraint. When a great number of users share an opinion, it becomes something collective. Through it, users could potentially start a movement without having to depend on mass media channels for information or for recognition. Nevertheless, there are still several challenges users may face. There is an increasing rise of the spread of false information and an algorithm rigged to serve content according to the users’ interests, causing users to struggle in distinguishing credible information from a biased content set out by the algorithm.
The information shown on social media affects how a user’s opinion is made. In organizing a movement, it is critical for users to get credible information before forming any opinion on a certain issue. Without it, there is a risk of a movement based on false information. The concept of media literacy itself is used in order to
13 Roisin Kiernan, “With the rise of Fake News on Social Media, can Information Literacy impact how students evaluate information on their social media channels?,” MSC Information & Library Management,
https://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/3319/msc_kiernan_r_2017.pdf?sequence=1 accessed 10 February 2019
14 W. J. Potter and W. G. Christ, “Media Literacy,” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007), doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosm064
ensure that parties involved in the movement does not recklessly spark a movement, but rather have calculated and analyzed pieces of information spreading regarding the main issue of the movement.
1.5. Theoretical Framework
International Relations is a course studying the dynamics of the international system comprised of a complex web of human relations that exceeds national boundaries. The actors involved varied from state to non-state actors, transcending the political and governmental realm. The involvement of non-state actors such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international non- governmental organizations (INGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) especially has become the driving factor on why the relation between actors can transcend the political and governmental realm.
Hoffman defines International Relations as a discipline concerning the factors and the activities affecting the external policies. Furthermore, he viewed International Relations as a field of study that finds the motive behind the foreign politics of states. His view became further emphasized by Ola, who argued that
“International Relations are the study of all forms of interactions that exist between members of separate entities or nations within the international system.” This perspective further solidifies the belief that international relations is inherently a broad field of knowledge.
In carrying out a state’s objectives, it should be determined how to best approach the agenda. There are two types of issues in international politics: ‘high’
politics and ‘low’ politics, as there is a hierarchical nature of issues that states pay more attention to. Issues on the higher part of the hierarchy attracts greater attention due to its importance to the state’s continued existence. In this sense, issues such as safety and security concerns commonly identical with military actions that require immediate distribution of resources from the government thus become considered
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as ‘high’ politics. Meanwhile, issues on the lower part of the hierarchy does not require such urgent response due to it being less existentially vital to the state. Issues of economic and social nature then become more of a subordinate to security issues due to the anarchic nature of the international system. States are urged to preserve its national security to maintain their power within the international system. It is only when the matter of ‘high’ politics is properly addressed that the government should put attention into issues of ‘low’ politics.15
Though realists believe that no rational state would prioritize issues of ‘low’
politics over security threats, it does not diminish the importance of ‘low’ politics.
The issues of ‘low’ politics usually deals with day-to-day actions of governance and administration, directly affecting the life of the people. For example, the issue of gender equality is something that directly affects the quality of life of women. It appears in many forms, one of it being sexual harassment and assault.
Unfortunately, a state usually does not have any proper law that protects women from it. When a state does have a proper regulation regarding the issue, the requirements for it to be processed by law is long and tiresome. Oftentimes, it requires a witness when most cases of sexual harassment and assault do not happen in public for other people to see. Taking a more specific case of workplace sexual harassment and assault, perpetrators are usually men in positions of power. The condition further pressures victims into not speaking up, mostly due to the fact that other people will likely believe the perpetrators over them. The condition could potentially eliminate the chance of victims finding any witnesses, which could further complicate the reporting process even if the victim decides to take legal actions.
Activism then becomes a way for people to try to gain the attention of the government, typically voiced out through the creation of movements. With the existence of new media, one person can share their message to a massive amount of audience and gain immediate feedback. New media gives its users the capability
15 Jeremy Youde, “High Politics, Low Politics, and Global Health,” Journal of Global Security Studies (2016), doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogw001
to have broad reach, engagement, and distribution while spending little to no production cost. Due to its low cost, it becomes accessible for people of all backgrounds that creates a large consumption rate especially in platforms such as social media that typically revolves around its interactive feature.16
According to the Social Movement Theory, movements can differ according to its time. Hence, due to the rise of new media and other communication technologies, it is believed to have intensified the mobilization of contention. The issue of workplace sexual harassment and assault is mobilized through the hashtag
#MeToo with the help of social media. Social movement theory seeks to answer questions such as: ‘why do people protest?’; ‘who is protesting?’; and ‘what forms of protest do protesters take part in?’.17
It believes that there are no restrictive policies surrounding the use of cyberspace. Usually, by the time the government has applied any restrictive policies, the messages of a movement would have circulated and shared by thousands of people. In cases that the government has already had any restrictive use of internet and social media, the people would have always utilized the networks in their protests. Some web pages, services, resources, or accounts might have been blocked, but the traces of social movement remain.
There are three mechanisms that allows technology, including the use of social media, to have such a powerful impact in propelling a social movement. The first is the reduction of costs. Taking into account that there is a convergence of telecommunications, a message of a movement can be shared through multiple platforms exceeding even national boundaries. It can cause an impact even in other societies. The only limitation of participation happens when authoritarian regimes attempt to block any messages of any social movement.
16 Jimmie Manning, Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2014),
p.1158
17 Jacquelien van Stekelenburg and P. G. Klandermans, “Social Movement Theory: Past, Present, and Prospect,”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254828894_Social_movement_theory_Past_present_and _prospect, accessed by 27 March 2019
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The second, promotion of collective identity. Through this mechanism, people can share common needs, concerns, viewpoints, and social goals with other people, creating a community of spread out members uniting to build a movement.
Their shared ideals will come into fruition through the collective actions of its dispersed members. Lastly, creation of community. By participating in the virtual actions for the social movement, it adds to the perception of community and connection with many people despite physical or national boundaries between them.18
With an understanding of how a social movement carry out its agenda, it is more likely for us to pinpoint the form of effort that helps topple a movement into succession. Furthermore, the use of global activist network theory could also be used to understand the emergence of movements through social media. Global activist networks are characterized through the unlikelihood of them in displaying a hierarchical command organization, with considerably refined communication and deliberate capacities. This type of movement aims to pursue diverse social justice goals on a global level. In order to achieve that, oftentimes they implement the SPIN model proposed by Gerlach and Hines. The model is an abbreviation of segmentation, polycentric, integration, and networks.
Segmentation refers to the fluid boundaries distinguishing formal organizations, informal groups, and single activists. It separates them over actions taken, while still being available for future coordination. Then there is the polycentric aspect, which is referring to the presence of multiple center of coordination. Derived from the term polycephalous, or many heads, it is to note that there is an avoidance of any formal leadership role. Instead, they prefer to have personal ties among them for them to be able to collectively speak for the organization. The integration principle then comes from said personal ties, thus allowing all parties involved to recognize common threats, setting a common goal
18 Bogdan and Monica Patrut, “Social Media in Politics: Case Studies on the Political Power of Social Media,” January 2014,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321615848_Social_Media_in_Politics_Case_Studies_on _the_Political_Power_of_Social_Media accessed by 28 March 2019
for them all. Lastly, network is a result of the three principles’ organizational form.
It is not hierarchical nor is it limited in their growth, allowing open information exchange as a result.19 By understanding the SPIN model of organization in global activism, it is possible to determine if the #MeToo Movement meets any of its characteristics and determine whether the movement is globalized or not.
1.6. Research Methodologies and Data Collecting Technique 1.6.1. Research Methodologies
Seeking to explain how social media causes the #MeToo movement to spread across the globe, the methodologies used is the interpretive method, also known as qualitative research, which focused on understanding a phenomenon comprehensively.20 This method takes an analytical approach to disclose the why, how, or what causes such a phenomenon to happen all while showing how the practices unfold so that it can be used as a source in generating observable outcomes. In order to do that, this methodology requires careful examination of variables involved, namely how Twitter as a social media is used in spreading the #MeToo Movement itself.
In doing so, qualitative measures is used in the researching process.
Due to it taking a qualitative approach, population is not be involved in the research variables as it starts from a certain case in a specific social situation which cannot be determined by population. The sample itself is a constructive sample, in which its sources could make clear of how a phenomenon happens. In this case, the sample could be found through literature, journals, news articles, and evidences available to access on
19 Ibid, 10
20 “Interpretive Research,” Research Methods for the Social Sciences,
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-researchmethodsforsocialscience/chapter/chapter- 12-interpretive-research/, accessed by 27 March 2019
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Twitter, an analysis of how social media could unfold such a big outcome could be made. References from literature and journals are used to understand social media and its impact on the general public, while news articles and evidences on Twitter are analyzed with the basic understanding formed. When put together, it explains how the two correlates and have a causality.
1.6.2. Data Collecting Technique
In researching, the data is gathered through archival research and social media observation. Archival research is especially fundamental in the researching process so that we can find a pattern in which a movement started through social media, hence explaining how it could also happen with the #MeToo Movement itself. Other than that, archival research helps in identifying media’s role in people’s life and how it affects their day-to- day behavior. Furthermore, social media observation is another fundamental process in understanding the general behavior of social media users and the general behavior of activists on social media. Without aforementioned processes, the understanding of how social media sparks the spread of
#MeToo Movement to India will not be possible.
1.7. Systematics of Discussion Chapter I: Introduction
This chapter features the background of the problem, the identification of the problem, the purpose of the thesis, the use of the thesis, the research objective, literature review, theoretical framework, research methodologies, data collecting technique, and the systematics of discussion.
Chapter II: The Emergence of the #MeToo Movement
Containing a descriptive explanation about the start of #MeToo Movement, what it stands for, how it rose to prominence, and the start of the movement in India.
Chapter III: The Rise of Social Media and the Emergence of Twitter Containing a descriptive explanation about the first use of social media, the integration of social media into human’s life, and the emergence of Twitter.
Chapter IV: Twitter’s Role in the Spread of the #MeToo Movement in India In this section, the author is presenting an analysis of how Twitter helps the spread of the #MeToo Movement in several parts of the world until it ultimately reached India in accordance to the approach, research characteristics, and the focus of the research.
Chapter V: Conclusion
The last chapter is presenting the conclusion to the thesis. The chapter summarizes each and every finding relevant to the research. It is achieved through analysis and interpretation that has been explained in previous chapters. Through the summary, readers can see descriptions of the patterns found. In turn, said pattern could be used as a future reference.
