ocial movements in Pakistan face numerous structural and societal barriers, including a lack of representation in mainstream media, political instability, populist politics, rampant religious fanaticism and socio-economic concerns.

When analysing the media perception of social movements in Pakistan, there are various aspects to take into consideration. With the advent of social media and rampant digitalisation in the country, new perspectives are now available to analyse perceptions from. While the conceptualisation of social movements on social media is as a representation of what the general public’s views are, for broadcast and print media, political agendas, profit motivation and agenda setting come into play.

Media have a huge role in modern societies as a vehicle for social movements as well as a determinant of their success and failure. One of the biggest examples of media mobilising the masses has been the citizens’ response to rigging of elections in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2005) and Kyrgyzstan (2005). The success of the massive protests that followed, namely the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution and the Tulip Revolution was predicated on the outreach provided by the social media.

Critical analysis of intricacies of mobilisation of masses through media found that the identification of the people or groups is critical when in pursuit of a collective cause. We can posit that the identification of different groups of people depends on their level of interaction with the rest of the people. When it comes to broadcast media, various institutions that exercise power are in direct control of the media through state apparatuses. Media is often the focal point all discussion and debate stem from, irrespective of the kind of governance structure in a country.

In this context, social movements cannot be seen as homogenous. The motives, context and principles of each social movement play a role in how these movements are received by the public. Rapid progress is not possible in the absence of social media. Social media platforms allow a diverse range of individuals to express their opinions. For social movements, this can be a double-edged weapon. On the one hand, it significantly enhances the outreach of these movements and on the other, it makes them susceptible to widespread criticism.

Even though social media plays a pivotal role in spearheading social movements, misinformation is a growing issue. This is particularly important because a significant proportion of people consume social media content without verifying it. The misinformation often fuels hatred against disruptive social movements that is often misplaced. Naturally, social media discourse is also influenced by discourse on broadcast or print media.

When it comes to broadcast media and the major media houses, lack of representation for social justice causes and stereotypical misrepresentation of movements alongside its followers is a serious concern. Some media outlets, for example, tend to portray transgender people as criminals or assoicated with drug trafficking, addiction, sex work, human trafficking and prostitution.

Movements for environmental justice in Pakistan, face barriers such as vested interests of media houses and corporate control over legislative action and media dispersion of information. A significant number of studies indicate that the political and economic influence of state machinery, multinational corporations and the corporate lobbies prevents the media from reporting the full extent of the climate change threat.

Media is the focal point all discussion and debate stem from, irrespective of the kind of governance structure in a country.

In the context of Aurat March, it was sometimes argued that the issues raised at the march were not the society’s major concerns. Due to the political instability in the country, the media space is more often than not dominated by political discourse. With the rise of populist politics, the focus has shifted further away from policy issues.

Women working for the recognition and promotion of women’s rights have been described as Westernised and alien to the local cultural identity. Such biased representation of the feminist movement leads to the creation of binaries between secular/ religious feminism and good/ bad feminism. The media then divides feminism into the kind it supports and the kind it condemns.

In the context of Aurat March and the feminist movement, some media outlets have lent themselves to widespread misinformation. Doctored images and distorted quotes have been far from rare in reporting the events or the debates.

Political movements such as the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement have relied heavily on social media. Research found that 13 percent of the respondents in PTM gatherings relied on social media to follow its activities.

Apart from restricted space for discourse, a structural concern for social movements is that many of them address minority groups having significantly less social, political and financial capital than the mainstream. This alone makes it difficult for infant social movements to gain an early foothold.

For both Aurat March and transgender activism, much of the criticism is rooted in their description as irreligious and culturally alien. Since the transgender community in particular has been historically disenfranchised, they do not have the same social or financial capital as other movements to bolster their outreach. This is another reason for some social movements to rely mostly on social media rather than print and broadcast media.

Media freedom in Pakistan has been subject to all kinds of pressures and threats since independence.

There is a severe lack of representation of ethnic and religious minorities on broadcast media. This also sets the tone for the perception of social movements. The mainstream media in Pakistan do not allocate extensive resources for campaigns to reshape social narratives.

Mass media in Pakistan is thus seen as unlikely to support new social movements which mostly go unrepresented. Some even face misrepresentation.

Social media on the other hand offers more space to such minorities to garner support from the part of the public willing to appreciate their cause.

The writer is a senior teaching fellow at Lahore School of Economics. Her research interests include gender, social minorities and media representation.