Journalism, social media, and wars of position

This chapter shows how social media platforms, seen from a non-Western lens, create opportunities and challenges for all, from ordinary people to state and nongovernmental institutions. To understand these challenges, it is important to take a step back and show how the Western media and technologies have benefited from their long-held hegemonic position before the advent of social media. The marginalization of non-Western societies continues, and in fact global inequalities have been further perpetrated by these technologies. Such inequalities have predetermined whether countries in the South could and should benefit from the presence of social media. Still, social media platforms have given a new voice to the long-oppressed people living in authoritarian circumstances. The opportunities that these platforms offer, particularly in authoritarian environments, will continue to dominate policy and scientific research. Investments in research should thus be encouraged so as to stay abreast with current trends on social media use.