Growth in and access to social media has made it possible for people to agitate against social ills. Social media has provided a platform for everyone to exchange information about some of their issues and, in a way, call for action both within and beyond their country’s borders. Individuals from all over the globe can currently let their grievances be known and rally for justice against any ill-practices endured in any part of the universe. Some of the most famous movements attributed to social media use include #EndSARS, #BlacklLivesMmatter, #MeToo, #TakeAKnee, among other calls for action developments.
After the #BlackLivesMatter campaigns, #EndSARS has been one of the world’s most talked-about calls for social change. #EndSARS is a social movement and several mass actions against the Nigerian police brutality (Ogundipe, 2017). People have been protesting and calling for the abolition of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), accused of human rights a violation. In 2017, Nigerians started a Twitter campaign against SARS and called for the government to disband the group (Paquette, 2020). At the same time, they conducted a peaceful protest with some celebrities against human rights violations. Comprising of youths, they had consolidated more than 28 million tweets, which attracted sympathizers worldwide (Paquette, 2020). #EndSARS was fueled by youth activists, Nigerian Human Rights organizations, and caught the attention of former President Obasanjo. Human Rights activists insisted on the prosecution of officers accused of extrajudicial killings. The young Nigerians further demanded accountable governance and justice for every citizen. On October 11, 2020, the Nigerian National Police hid their calls disbanded SARS (Paquette, 2020). Nigerian opposition accused the government of giving legitimacy to a militia, thus further increasing the group’s call for disbandment.
#MeToo is one of the most remarkable and relevant hashtags of 2017. This campaign helped create a global movement of women and men to share their stories of sexual abuse, violence, and harassment (Astier, 2018). The idea originated from Tarana Burke, a U.S. activist after a rape and sexual harassment scandal that involved Hollywood film-maker Harvey Weinstein (Castle, 2017). Relevance to the movement gained momentum when Alyssa Milano used Twitter to request sexually assaulted victims to show solidarity and share their experiences. Between October and December 2017, there were more than six million mentions of #MeToo (Astier, 2018). The world community joined the debate with France, mainly using #balancetonporc or “rat on your dirty old man,” which has more than half a million mentions. Though so many people worldwide are still subject to sexual harassment, rape, and manipulation, there has been little or no space for the victims to talk about their experiences (Braithwaite & Orr, 2017). The Justice Department expedited the execution of sex offenders. EOCC won more than $70 million from companies on behalf of sexually intimidated victims in 2018 (Astier, 2018). Concurrently, the advocacy against gender-based violence and exploitation has become a major concern worldwide.
Racial injustices are still a significant occurrence in various sports around the globe. In some instances, black-origin soccer players have had bananas thrown at them by the opposition supporters. When such incidences occur, there is little or no support for their protests. In September 2017, #TakeAKnee became one of the greatest calls to action that has ever happened in sports. Within three days, it had more than 1.2 million tweets. #TakeAKnee was descriptively used by the NFL players before the beginning of America Football matches as they take to their knees for the national anthem. However, in August 2016, NFL player Colin Kaepernick used it to protest against racial injustice. According to Boren (2020), at the time, police brutality was a major injustice that was desirable to be talked about. There was a need for people to know that not all Americans had their rights protected. Currently, the English premier league takes a knee in respect of George Floyd.
References
Astier, H. (2018). France’s celebrity pushback against ‘MeToo.’ BBC News.
Boren, C. (2020). A timeline of Colin Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality, four years after they began. The Washington Post. Web.
Braithwaite, A., & Orr, C. M. (2017). Everyday women’s and gender studies: Introductory concepts. Taylor & Francis.
Castle, S. (2017). Sexual harassment claims surface in U.K. parliament. The New York Times. Web.
Ogundipe, S. (2017). #EndSARS: Nigeria Police threaten leader of campaign against notorious anti-robbery squad. Premium Times.
Paquette, D. (2020). Nigeria abolishes special police squad after nationwide protests. The Washington Post.