Engendering civil resistance: Social media and mob tactics in Malaysia

Abstract

Mass movements in the form of flashmobs and smartmobs, which emerged out of friend-to-friend network topology on different online social media platforms, have revolutionary potential and have become powerful and creative tactics for political protests, particularly under repressive conditions. Focusing on the Bersih rallies in Malaysia, which advocate free and fair elections, it is useful to draw from Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of a rhizomatic assemblage of power to understand the workings of social media in the organization of political rallies among young adults in Malaysia, and the extension of these rallies abroad via the crisscrossing of multiple solidarities online. A textual and discourse analysis of the online mob activities is juxtaposed with interviews conducted with Malaysians who have participated in and/or contributed to these mob movements, to uncover the changing dynamics of social and political protest in the new media ecology. By mapping the rhizomatic patterns and behaviors on social media – from the ‘call to participate’ through to its occurrence (in the form of color-coded rallies) – this article discusses the ‘civic responsibility’ upheld by Malaysians and the (re)purposing of community via internet connectivity.