Seventh International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This study uses Christensen’s (1997) technology disruption theory and Castells’ (1996) theory of network society to explain the influence of social media in political change in Sudan. It provides an anatomy of the role of social media in the Sudanese revolution that toppled the dictatorial rule of Gen. Omer Al-Bashir on April 11, 2019. Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur. His pro-Islamic government controlled the media and suppressed the opposition. Bashir’s brute force failed to pacify an internal popular discontent and an external approbation. The Sudanese protesters used social media as an alternative media (Haas, 2004; Chan, 2017) to organize massive demonstrations that led to the downfall of Bashir’s authoritarian rule. The study used 30 in-depth interviews to explore the opinions of the Sudanese people, namely the young generation, about the use of social media during the Sudanese revolution. The study found that social media played important roles in informing, organizing, and mobilizing young men and women during the protests (Leung and Lee, 2014). Some interviewees suggest that the revolution could not have happened without social media. The majority of the interviewees state that the internet blackout was meant to hide the atrocities committed during the brutal dispersal of the sit-in in front of the General Command of the Armed Forces. They state that the protesters used mobile phones, SMS, and pamphlets during the blackout. The study contributes to an emerging scholarly inquiry into the role that social media play in cyber-activism.