Posted: January 4th, 2023
The Dynamic of New Media: A Look Into Social Network Sites Impact on Digital Activism Among Officials and Individuals in Saudi Arabia
A Thesis Submitted
For The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Acknowledgement
Abstract
This research observes the reality of social media usage in Saudi Arabia from primarily two perspectives, framing the type of relationship between regular users with social media and the kind of official adoption for new technologies. Women’s relationship with society in Saudi Arabia is understandably unstable that has been debated repeatedly in the past. As much as the critical views to the way of ruling the Saudi government is enforcing in terms of their handling to most of the situations that attached to social and political matters. Under these circumstances, the research drew an approach to analyze one of the most rising social phenomena in Saudi Arabia. The ever-growing concerns with women’s rights and women empowerment and quite an appearance for feminism discourse among many social media users. Currently there is a desire to share personal stories, which has resulted in a greater inclination among users to debate even slightly controversial topics. For many social media users, removing this barrier has created a new attitude, especially in women, who were previously prevented from sharing their lifestyle with strangers online or outside their family’s close circle due to numerous restrictions.
On the other hand, the research also examines the types of engagement from the official establishment and officials in general with similar discourse, which aims to acquire lost rights according to its representatives. The government programs for women empowerment notably cost a lot of money and efforts since the previous King’s era. A situation that is continuing right now with the current King, which could be mirrored in the government’s Vision for 2030, a program for reform that has been heavily affiliated with the image of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Whom being presented as the face of reform for the Gulf country that has been almost since its established was associated with being highly conservative and labelled by outsiders for its great sense of reservation to change. This new reality in the Kingdom, besides many political and social changes, has created a new dynamic for interaction between Saudi users, presenting a new horizon for several social changes as the research understands and creates new political practices in the country. Based on 31 semi-structured interviews (varied between official and activist users), intensive fieldwork to collect related data, this study explores the current socio-political scene in Saudi Arabia and how the participants reflect on the changes brought over with high adoption for social media platforms in the country.
Table of Contents
1.1 Research Aims and Objectives. 8
1.5 Justification for Research. 12
1.6 Significance of the Study. 15
1.7 The Global and Domestic Context of Women and Gender. 17
1.8 Saudi Women in the Social Media Context. 19
2 Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Framework.. 24
2.2 The Increasing Use of Social Media and its Dynamics. 25
Social Media versus Traditional Mainstream Media. 26
Social Media Censorship and Surveillance. 27
2.3 Applications of Social Media. 32
Social Media as Source of News and Information for Public Consumption.. 32
Social Media as a Tool for Political Engagement. 34
Social media as Means for Protest. 37
2.4 Human Rights Discourse on Social Media. 41
2.5 Conceptual Framework: An Approach to the Influence of Marginalised Groups in Social Media 46
3.2 The Political and Social Context of Saudi Arabia. 55
3.3 Social Movements in Saudi Arabia. 57
3.4 Social Media and Political Change in Saudi Arabia. 63
3.5 Social media: A Tool for Voicing the Plight of Women and Gender Rights. 64
3.6 Social Media as a Tool for Normative Change. 69
3.7 The Current Evidence of Social Media Affordances. 71
Affordances of Socio-political Movements. 71
Affordances on Women and Gender Equality.. 73
1.1 Saudi Arabia Biggest Journey for Reform: 2030 Vision. 74
4.2 Research Aim, Objectives and Questions. 78
4.3 The Research Approach.. 79
4.6 Data Collocation Procedure. 89
4.7 Permission for Data Collection and Ethical Considerations. 92
5.2 Proposed Programs: The Beneficiaries of Women Empowerment Programs 96
5.3 Professional Society: Representing Women, or Reflection of Social Levels. 105
5.4 Future Representation: Vision 2030 and Women Inclusion.. 113
5.5 Summary of Key Findings and Insights. 120
6 Chapter 6: Digital Activism: How Saudi Women Deployed Social Media Platforms to Effect Change. 122
6.2 Alternative Space’s Accessibility and Availability: New Media Facilitating New Debate 123
6.4 Women’s Rights in the Narrator’s Voice: An Attempt to Reduce the Elites’ Manipulation 131
6.6 Radical, Intersectional and Popular: How Women’s Discourse is Bridging the Knowledge Gap 138
6.7 Women’s Rights, Domestic and Global Context. 140
6.8 News/Information Consumption.. 143
6.9 Summary of Key Findings and Insights. 146
7 Chapter 7: Social Media Usage and The Saudi Government’s Interaction With Ongoing Discourses. 148
7.3 Political Participation in Undemocratic State. 152
7.4 The Concept of Change. 154
7.5 Stop Embarrassing Us Campaign: Seeking Answers. 161
7.6 Summary of Key Findings and Insights. 163
1.2 Evolution of the Saudi Society in the Advent of New Media. 166
The Non-Discriminatory Structure of Twitter. 175
Twitter’s Ability to Enable Diverse Communication Modes. 178
Social Media as an Engagement Platform for Women.. 180
Types of Women Empowerment Discourses on Social Media Platforms. 185
Examples of Effective Use of Social Media for Social and Political Discourses. 188
8.3.1 Role of Vision 2030 on Saudi’s Women Empowerment. 191
8.3.2 Types of Conversation between the Government and Activists of Women Empowerment 194
8.3.3 The Influence of Conversations on Women-Targeted Policies and Programs. 196
8.4 Summary of the Chapter. 199
9.1.1 Media-Mediated Historical Development of the Saudi Society.. 203
9.1.2 Collective Consciousness, Weak Ties and Social Exchange. 203
9.1.3 Women Engagement in Socio-political Discourse: Cyberactivism vs. Echo Chambers 204
9.1.4 Official Engagement: Women Empowerment vs. Government Propaganda. 206
9.1.5 Online Women Empowerment Campaigns: Reliable but not Effective. 207
9.2 Contributions of the Research.. 208
9.2.1 Communications Theory of Power. 213
9.2.2 Actor-Network Theory.. 214
9.2.3 Technological Determinism Theory.. 216
9.2.4 Strength of weak ties. 216
9.2.6 Social Exchange Theory.. 217
9.2.6 Summary of Knowledge Contributions of the Study.. 218
9.3 Limitation of the Research.. 218
9.4 Recommendations for Future Research. 219
List of figure and tables
Figure 1. Global Social Media Usage from 2004 – 2019. 25
Table 1. Research Population. 87
Table 2. Secondary Data Materials. 89
1 Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Research Aims and Objectives
The present research aims to examine aspects of Saudis’ usage of social media by investigating the female empowerment discourse on social media, the participants’ motivation, and the aims for reform, as well as the official adoption of these platforms, aspects of intervention, practices of responses, and ways of interaction. Currently, the Gulf states are always working nationally and internationally to reshape their image in the global community’s eyes, while actively engaging the public in many practices of reform. Women’s situation is a significant part of this process. Thus, this research has the following aims:
- · To perceive the nature of relationship between social media users’ in Saudi Arabia;
- To observe the influence of social media on empowerment programs for Saudi women;
- To explore the Saudi government methods of engagement in activities related to women’s rights on social media;
- To examine whether social media has facilitated women’s rights campaigns in Saudi Arabia;
1.2 Research Questions
To reach the research objectives listed above, the research will seek to answer the following key research question: What is the role of social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia?
This main question is further divided into two sub-questions:
- How do women’s rights activists engage with social media in Saudi Arabia?
- How do Saudi government officials engage with social media in relation to women’s rights issues?
1.3 Research Background
Social media is revolutionizing the discursive by facilitating the expression and sharing of diverse opinions, thoughts, and ideas, while overcoming temporal and spatial constrains inherent in the traditional communication modes. Its pervasiveness has permeated several facets of everyday life, including the economic, social, and political spheres in a manner that traditional media has not managed to, despite its longstanding use that has stood the test of time (Gil de Zúñiga and Liu, 2017). In this regard, social media has enabled people to connect with each other as they have done for millennia, only this time, at a faster pace and transmitting huge volumes of content almost instantaneously, provided there is efficient internet connectivity.
Social media platforms are garnering increasing usage and popularity. Clement (2020) places the usage of social media as one of the favorite digital activities, which is partaken by an estimated 3.6 billion people in 2020 and projected to reach 4.41 billion by 2025. Notably, 49 % of the world’s population used social media, with the figures expected to grow significantly, particularly in the less developed digital markets, as their infrastructure improves and affordable model devices become increasingly available (Clement, 2020). This trend is largely driven by the widely dispersed technologically-sophisticated millennial teens and young adults who spend huge proportions of their daily time online (Baghel, 2015).
However, besides this impressive trend, the permissiveness and experiences with social media vary across different social, cultural, and political contexts. Internet gatekeepers, social media platform administrators, and governments place diverse pressures and restrictions on what they construe as undesirable, while permitting what they consider acceptable for their publics, despite the social network platforms having been developed in pursuit for freedom on the web (Gillespie, 2018). Gillespie (2018) provides a paradoxical perspective of the emergence of the social media phenomenon by reporting that although these platforms elicited a fantasy of openness that resonates with democracy and community utopian notions, it also enables agonizing perils, like pornography, obscenity, violence, illegalities, abusiveness and hatefulness, to thrive in the same virtual space. To this, Gillespie (2018) noted that no platform exists in the absence of rules that moderate its use.
This paradox is well espoused in the permissibility of sensitive discourses over social media platforms. On one side, while national and international statutory and legal agencies strive to regulate the use of social media to protect individual and corporate privacy, prevent fraud, and enforce intellectual property rights, on the other hand, governments are increasingly using social media to communicate with its citizens and provide services efficiently, alongside effecting paradigmatic transformation (DeNardis and Hackl, 2015). In an interesting turn of perceptions, the optimistic observers of the 2011 Arab Spring felt that the internet had grown into a tool for facilitating the organization of antigovernment movements in authoritarian regimes, while the pessimistic ones contended that it was a tool for repression used to restrict social and political liberties (Rød and Weidmann, 2015).
Penney (2017) uses the use of social media in Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in 2016 to demonstrate the shifting relations between ordinary citizens and institutions by noting that this campaign demonstrated the power of social medial in broadcasting organizational messages through peer-to-peer channels, while enabling the transmission of unofficial digital content generated by users to influence others in culturally-oriented and informal settings. These two strategies of communication are manifested differently in diverse social and political realms. However, there is an emerging trend in many countries in the increasing constriction of civil spaces as governments try to regulate, control, and even silence challenging and critical voices (Buyse, 2018). According to Reuter and Szakonyi (2015) optimistic and pessimistic views of social media use in authoritarian regimes persist, as the optimists applaud the platforms ability to undermine authoritarianism through lowered costs of independent information acquisition and reduced barriers for collective action, while the pessimists argue that authoritarian leaders devise new approaches for controlling social media-mediated dissent, thus preserving their autocratic regimes.
This tendency of the paradoxical use of social media is prevalent in autocratic and authoritarian regimes, although it remains a hotly-contested in government that claim to be liberal and democratic. Beinart (2019) paints a disturbing picture of a trend emerging in otherwise democratic countries when he noted that authoritarian nationalism was rising across several countries, led by the United States, in which their hostilities toward liberal democracy was market by a curious intention to subordinate women. This raises critical questions, particularly about the permissibility and use of new media in traditional authoritarian countries, in the wake of expanded social and political spaces afforded by social media.
The social and political discourses of women are returning into the sphere of political machinations of regimes. Beinart (2019) provides interesting insights into the historical persistence on women disempowerment by regimes that were brought into power by championing women’s rights. He recollects that revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries in France and Iran supported women’s empowerment, by using Marie Antoinette and Princess Ashraf, respectively, to discredit the previous regimes, yet they disempowered women once they captured power later. In the Arab world, similar tendencies were demonstrated by Mohamed Morsi in Egypt after deposing Hosni Mubarak, a proclaimed dictator, and the event following the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, in which the bans on female genital mutilation and polygamy were repealed in Egypt and Libya, respectively. Therefore, for autocratic regimes claiming to champion the advancement of women’s empowerment, it was curious to investigate whether women’s social and political discourses, especially over social media, have elicited similar reactions and enjoyed the permissibility appropriated by new media.
1.4 Problem Statement
In the wake of pervasiveness of social media in society, the raging debate is whether these technologies are advancing equality and social justice along all strata of society. The benefits of social media, particularly in opening up conversational spaces and promoting the freedom of expression by particularly enabling previously suppressed voices to surface, are evident, however, social media has also emboldened the proliferation of hate speech, where individuals and virtual communities silence others actively, in the guise of exercising the right to voice their sentiments (Lim, 2017). Ahmad, Alvi, and Ittefaq (2019) highlighted the singular benefit accruing from the proliferation of social media in modern societies, that is, stimulating political participation, online and offline, because of the increased political information and awareness promoted by the new media space. Similarly, Kadeswaran, Brindha, and Jayaseelan (2020) reiterated that social media platforms expanded the opportunities to learn from and educate each other, creating conversations that expose the marginalization of women and inspiring the change in the traditional roles of women, thus furthering the women empowerment discourse. In this regard, social media has exhibited potential as an agent of change by affording cyberfeminists a platform on which women’s rights are attracting attention and accountability, while long-held stereotypes and discriminatory practices are challenged (Vardhan, 2017). These positive aspects are not in contestation in this study, it is the ramifications or the unrealized potential that is troubling.
Women are yet to utilize the social media space optimally because they are challenged by the pervasive cyberbullying and lack of literacy in the use of new media technologies, thus leaving social media to benefit the highly-educated and elite women in society (Vardhan, 2017). Moreover, authoritarian authorities are yet to demonstrate their unconditional willingness to support the free use of social media in their countries, considering that even the countries that were thought to be democratic, or at least liberal, have been clamping down of women civic spaces and using social media in questionable ways, as has been exhibited by the political administrations in the United States, Brazil, and the Philippines (Beinart, 2019). Political leaders like Presidents Trump, Bolsonaro, Duterte of the United States, Brazil, and the Philippines, respectively, have helped perpetuate the paternalistic society by marginalizing the women in their countries, particularly those that were their political competitors (Beinart, 2019). Beinart (2019, para 5) demonstrated this unfolding but troubling phenomenon explaining the social contract that had been forged between male leaders and their male followers, in the words of Valerie Hudson, a renowned political scientist, who said that, “Men agreed to be ruled by other men in return for all men ruling over women”, which is being replicated in the current political discourse in these countries. From a different perspective, Schejter and Tirosh (2015) noted that the utilitarian philosophy that has underpinned the use of social media and explained its contribution to society was unable to cater for the lack of access to social media or promote its use among the lease advantaged in the media ecosystem of the modern times. Therefore, they called for the use of redistributive philosophy because it would promote equitable access to the new media affordances and help realize the potential of social media in delivering public good (Schejter and Tirosh 2015).
From this exposition, the glaring problem that is evident in Saudi Arabia is the lack of sufficient empirical evidence indicating that social media was serving as an agent of change of the social, cultural and political mindsets in the country or whether it was promoting women empowerment. The increasing evidence about the constriction of the discursive spaces afforded by social media, particularly in autocratic regimes, like that in Saudi Arabia, amid claims of government-led women empowerment needed further investigation. This study intended to unravel these dynamics and complexities by gathering evidence from those who experience the phenomenon directly.
1.5 Justification for Research
The rationale of this study is based on the fundamental issues related to the political environment afforded by monarchical and authoritarian regimes, and how they influence women empowerment discourses in public, through discursive avenues like social media.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute hereditary monarchy that has a unique approach toward women empowerment and emancipation, and the use of social media in the society. Monarchies present a complex and often controversial, yet curious scenario when addressing issues related to women empowerment and emancipation, and social media freedom, considering that they are always under the threat of legitimization and obliteration (Gerring, et al., 2020). Firstly, monarchies are diverse and differ in the manner in which they afford opportunities to women to become empowered and emancipated. Monarchies can be constitutional or absolute and hereditary (Guillen, 2018). The constitutional monarchies have a queen or king as the head of state, and an elected official, like a prime minister, who is elected using varied mechanisms to head the government. This kind of monarchy is present in countries like the United Kingdom and some Scandinavian countries, such as Norway and Sweden (Alkhaled and Berglund, 2018). Contrastingly, absolute hereditary monarchies, like the one in Saudi Arabia and several other Middle East countries, have a king that governs the entire country, while his family members, usually males, handle various government dockets and run the administrative aspects of the country. Due to their close relations, absolute monarchies in the Gulf region cooperate with each other informally, while instituting unilateral policies domestically (Carlson and Koremenos, 2020). Therefore, although constitutional monarchies embrace a significant level of democracy in their countries, as espoused in the election of representatives to a parliament, absolute monarchs tend to be autocratic and authoritarian because they do not have representation mechanisms that allow citizens to make representational choices (Stier, 2015). In this regard, while both types of monarchies will not have a legally-binding constitution that provides for the addressing of women’s issues, the constitutional monarchies tend to be more liberal and accommodative of women empowerment and emancipation as a way of promoting an egalitarian society, with women’s issues being discussed freely in parliament (Nobles, Brown, and Catalano, 2010). Contrastingly, absolute monarchies hold absolute control over empowerment and emancipation discourses through, usually, informal approaches, announcing their decisions through decrees rather than legislated law. In turn, glaring differences in the equality of women is Saudi Arabia and Sweden or Norway, is evident (Spinner, 2018). While Sweden has embraced women equality and affords them enormous spaces for expressing their political, economic, and social sentiments for a long time, Saudi Arabia is just embracing the ideal of women’s participation in public political, economic, and social spheres of society, although it is constrained by the deeply-entrenched religious and cultural beliefs and traditions (Hussein and Goldsmith, 2020).
Secondly, monarchies differ in the way in which they address the freedom of expression and openness to criticisms. While many monarchical countries around the world prohibit the defaming and criticizing of the monarch with legal provisions, some of them allow governments to be criticized and held accountable by the public, while other repress such sentiments and tendencies (Dettman, 2020). The governments in the United Kingdom and Sweden can be openly and officially criticized and held accountable for their women-related policies, while that in Saudi Arabia is criticized in closed circles and often, in informal settings that safeguard autonomy, confidentiality, and privacy (Gustafsson, et al., 2015). Moreover, there are no political parties in Saudi Arabia that would allow open expression of political views, meaning that the political space is highly constricted and data activism is therefore, critical (Gutiérrez, 2018). In turn, constitutional monarchies have managed to empower and emancipate their women considerable, as noted in the high level of women participation in politics, business, and other traditionally male-dominated spheres of life. However, absolute monarchies, like Saudi Arabia, continue to uphold the paternalistic system, while invoking religious and cultural traditions to justify and perpetuate the undermining of women in society (Muller, 2015). Moreover, in monarchies, the influence of traditionalist varies with the liberal monarchies overriding the perceptions of the most conservative idealists, while in the Saudi absolute hereditary monarchy, traditionalist hold a significant sway over how women issues are addressed, often opposing the emancipation and empowerment agenda and discourse (Inata, 2020). In some cases, the Saudi women are the ones that oppose empowerment and emancipatory reforms being undertaken by their governments, citing the erosion of the longstanding social structure and moral fiber of society.
Thirdly, monarchies differ in their approach of enabling sensitive discourses over social media. Going by the level of openness to criticism that different types of monarchies accommodate, their permissiveness for the use of social media also differs. Social media has permeated public spaces, including governments across the world, and has been embraced differently by diverse political regimes. Notably, monarchical governments, like democratic ones, have taken to social media to engage with their citizens and publics, albeit for varied reasons and using different strategies. While the liberal monarchies have accommodate open and free discourse on a wide variety of issues, including those directly associated with the monarch, absolute monarchs tend to be authoritarian, repressing open discourses even on social media (Zaid, 2017). The Saudi monarchy is unique because it has embraced social media for liberation and oppression motives, where on one side, the government aims at engaging its citizens more, while on the other, it endeavors to discourage and suppress dissenting voices and ideas by controlling the narrative in the public spaces (Alhargan, 2012).
From another perspective, authoritarian regimes differ from democratic ones in the manner they in which balance individual freedoms and complete subjugation and obedience in society. On one side, authoritarian regimes can be totalitarian and dictatorial when they exemplify personality cultism, extensively suppress political activity, and control the entire lives of their citizens and anyone within their jurisdiction, like the one in North Korea. On the other side, democratic regimes can be extremely liberal because their permit extensive individual liberties, avail broad and open spaces for airing divergent ideas and opinions, and generally allow citizens to lead their lives with minimal interference from the government, without being anarchical. Saudi Arabia is a unique regime that combines authoritarianism with some elements of liberalism, although its authoritarian tendencies far outweigh its liberal ones. The leadership configuration of a regime influences the participation of citizens in political and civic activities, and authoritarian regimes are more restrictive that democratic ones (Guriev and Treisman, 2019). Moreover, women empowerment and emancipation is accommodated more in liberal regimes than in authoritative ones. In this regard, Saudi Arabia presents a curious scenario in which repressive and liberal tendencies conflate to deliver a society in a unique form of tension. The Saudi government is striving to empower and emancipate women for economic reasons rather than cultural and religious ones. Similarly, different segments of the Saudi society embrace the direction the Saudi government is taking in these issues differently, with some welcoming the economic opportunities afforded to the women, while other oppose them (Koprulu and Abdulmajeed, 2019). The tension is extended into the manner in which the government is utilizing social media to engage with its diverse publics. While social media platforms can be help broadcast government’s policies and views about women, they can also be used to manipulate the discourse to forestall allegiance fallout (Kelly, 2017). In this regard, authoritarian governments, while recognizing their unpopularity, strive to contain dissenting views without being openly oppressive, so as to remain legitimate and popular, or at least tolerable (Hollyer, Rosendorff, and Vreeland, 2019).
These dimensions of study are largely unexplored in scholarly realms and more so in the authoritarian settings of the Saudi kind. The gaps in evidence from the Saudi setting inspired this study and its approach in taking a broad view that considered the political environment and specifically, the kind of regime in Saudi Arabia and its influence on the advancement of the women’s empowerment discourse over social media. In this regard, it is not clear how the absence of a parliament in Saudi Arabia, and therefore, how monarchical decrees, that are often broadcasted and discussed over social media, have advanced the women’s course towards increased empowerment and individual liberties (Al-Rasheed, 2016). Moreover, it also not clear how the various groups of women embrace or reject the increased use of social media by government officials to present and propagate government narratives. Further, evidence is lacking in how different government operatives that use social media to project government positions on various societal issued perceive this government’s strategy. These are the complexities, ambiguities, and paradoxes that this study sought to unravel.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The significance of this study is derived from the lack of sufficient empirical evidence indicating that social media was serving as an agent of change of the social, cultural and political mindsets in the country or whether it was promoting women empowerment. The absence of such evidence could have limiting effects on how the social media can be used to advance the empowerment and emancipation discourses of women and the government, and how it can be a positive rather than a negative change agent in the Saudi society. Moreover, the Saudi setting is believed by many to be very oppressive to women, without regarding the efforts that have been put by the Saudi government to gradually open up women spaces for civic activity without losing the unique Saudi societal character (Koprulu and Abdulmajeed, 2019).
Saudi women have been traditionally disenfranchised by the paternalistic society in their country, limiting their freedoms and civic participation, yet the recent developments in the country indicate that they are enjoying more individual liberties now that in any other moment in history (Bertot, Jaeger, and Hansen, 2012). However, the journey towards the full liberation of women and their total empowerment is likely to be a long one and even untenable. Without calling for a regime change, this study will promote the usage of social media to advance women’s empowerment and emancipation in the confined of the unique Saudi context.
Therefore, the findings of this study will benefit the Saudi society in realizing the extensive empowerment and emancipation opportunities afforded by social media platforms that they could capitalize to enhance their civic participation. More specifically, the findings of this study will facilitate the Saudi women to capitalize on the affordances presented by social media to articulate their issues and share them with other publics without reverting to confrontational approaches that may claw back the gains in individual liberties they have enjoyed to date (Koprulu and Abdulmajeed, 2019). In the same vein, this study will embolden women activists to overcome the barriers they experience in advancing the Saudi women’s narrative about their empowerment and emancipation challenges. It will also help them devise more effective strategies of advancing their course over social media in the Saudi setting without overly antagonizing the Saudi administration. Similarly, the findings of this study will also encourage the government officials to embrace social media as a legitimate avenue for sharing and discussing Saudi government policies and decrees related to women empowerment and emancipation in the civic sphere without appearing to overly safeguard the official narrative or regime popularity by suppressing dissenting views (Brechenmacher and Hubbard, 2020).
This study is expected to contribute to the knowledge on how absolute hereditary monarchies and authoritarian government use social media to advance the individual liberties of women in their societies without fomenting violent opposition, as is the case unfolding in in Thailand, where the Thais are holding protests to revolt against their king and his regime (BBC, 2020). In this regard, it will provide scholarly opportunities for interrogating the emerging usages of social media in civic activities, particularly those related to women’s issues about empowerment and emancipation. So far, most of the studies have been conducted in western settings where constitutional monarchies thrive, while neglecting the settings of other monarchies, like the absolute hereditary monarchical setting in Saudi Arabia. In this respect, the findings presented in this study will expose and clarify the remaining research gaps related to studies that address the situation of women empowerment in developing countries that need to be filled to support the strategies of entrenching an egalitarian society in the world.
Similarly, this study is expected to advance the theories related to social media usage and civic engagements in society. It will provide new ways of applying strength of weak ties theory, the theory of rituals, and the social exchange theory in unique contexts, such as those presented by Saudi Arabia. These theories are increasingly being used to explain the affordances provided by social media in civic engagement as an avenue for societal reforms and change rather than for entertainment purposes. Doubts about the safe and responsible use of social media by those with divergent view persist among governments and conservative members of society, limiting the potential use of social media as a peaceful agent of change. Therefore, using these theories to illustrate the benign but responsible use of social media to instigate peaceful social change is desirable, yet little understood because most focus have been on the violent and revolutionary outcomes of social media activism and interactions.
1.7 The Global and Domestic Context of Women and Gender
Various countries worldwide and numerous international organisations have formulated several policies, legislations, and frameworks to curtail and correct the harmful gender stereotypes that have been affecting women for centuries. With women and girls constituting more than 50% of the world’s population, initiatives that boost their social inclusion is necessary to ensure the well-being of the entire society (Newsom and Lengel, 2012). However, we are still far from achieving gender equity and social inclusion for the female population. For example, employment opportunities and leadership positions are areas in which women worldwide have experienced acute discrimination (Hutchings, Lirio, and Metcalfe, 2012). Essentially, organisations such as UN Women have devised various interventions to ensure women’s empowerment and defeat the human rights challenge of gender inequality. With the increasing desire for democracy and clean politics, multiple countries have started putting more pressure on the government to initiate gender equality intervention measures. As Hassim and Razavi (2006, p. 1) indicate, “processes of political liberalisation have opened spaces for social movements in several parts of the developing world to articulate demands for more effective social policies that mitigate the effects of gender inequalities. While some countries have made significant steps in this direction, others, such as the Middle East and North Africa, still have a long journey.
One of the significant demands during the Arab uprising was gender equality and women’s rights. Three considerable forces have always dominated the nature of gender dynamics in the region: the traditional Islamic teachings regarding women and men, the inversion of Western culture and their concept of women’s rights, the existing jurisdictional policies, and legislative frameworks gender (Megahed and Lack, 2011). With the colonial legacy and the global village’s technological creation, many in these regions have started to appreciate the need to foster equal opportunities for men and women. However, the cultural and religious constraints have played a significant role in maintaining the traditional lens for viewing gender in these societies (Megahed and Lack, 2011). According to a report by the United Nations Development Program, most women in the Arab world are still struggling to achieve fair treatment (Sika, 2011). Women still have the least political participation, low access to education and employment, and all their activities, aspirations, and behaviours are carefully monitored by their kinsfolk who have conventional mind-sets.
Among Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of gender inequality and discrimination against women. For example, Saudi Arabia was among the first to pass harsh and discriminating legislation that prohibited women from driving (Bishin and Cherif, 2018). While Saudi Arabia is among the world’s top 20 most industrialised countries, women here still do not enjoy the rights that women do elsewhere – due to the mistreatment and discrimination that this society has subjected them to. The country also had legislation that demands “subservient status of women, such as the ‘male guardian’ legal requirement, which deprives women of autonomy in personal decisions, including the freedom to travel without the company of a man” (AlMofawez, 2016, p.31). However, since 2011, there have been several shifts in the perception of gender in the Kingdom. Most Arab countries are now revising their gender rights, with several adopting gender quotas (Bishin and Cherif, 2018). Under these initiatives, policies are set to ensure that a minimum percentage is represented by women in any political or social undertaking. This move has resulted in increased access to education among Saudi women. Currently, 53% of the country’s women have a college degree, with very high ranks in global comparison (AlMofawez, 2016). However, this achievement has not reflected quite somewhat in the distribution of leadership and employment opportunities among women. Consequently, feminists and women rights activists have resorted to capitalising on social media’s power to engage in this discourse and to pressurise the government and society to appreciate and formulate more inclusive gender-based policies.
1.8 Saudi Women in the Social Media Context
Under similar regimes, the effort to prevent minorities or oppressed groups from acquiring spaces or platforms to express their opinions and reach higher social or political status seems apparent. The emergence of social media, with its notable ability to gain popularity, resulted in opening a new avenue for less-fortunate groups to deploy such spaces to speak out about the discrimination they endure in their daily lives.
Recording such activities and sharing them with a vast number of users has had a significant impact on redefining such platforms’ role for the oppressed. Recently, many users have acknowledged the kind of struggles experienced by some individuals, which has influenced their judgment of similar cases without having to listen to others who might have twisted the facts or manipulated reality. The case of Dina Ali is a widespread issue significantly related to women’s rights discourse in social media. The Saudi woman, whom her friends described as wanting to flee the country to escape the struggles in her life, was detained by the Philippine government in Manila on her way to Australia (Vincent, 2019). Her appeals were received well by activists of the women’s rights discourse in Saudi Arabia, and they quickly communicated with numerous international organisations to stop attempts to return her to Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, some communities suffer, notably from female representation in their social and official establishments. So, in the last decade, social media has allowed women in many countries to reach out to society and express their anger about the level of discrimination they face in many aspects of life. Such issues rarely appeared on the table in the past, since men’s almost complete domination in many executive roles. The rapid growth in Saudi Arabia’s discussion, for example, is reflected on the ground in the form of an increased percentage of women in the workforce. The Saudi government has taken critical legal steps towards enforcing women’s inclusion in the workplace; one of the significant reforms is the Saudisation of large sectors and the rapid rise in this quota. From 2017 to 2018, the percentage of women in paid work increased from 18% to 23% (Al-Ubaydli, 2019).
In the last few years, social media has changed the conservative perception of people declaring their solidarity with diverse humanitarian matters worldwide. At moments when the official stance on topics would have been believed to reflect public opinion according to some standards, social media has provided users with the appropriate platform to voice their solidarity with any case or provide their inputs irrespective of official attempts to direct public opinion or try to influence individual opinions (Alkarni, 2018). In addition to that, social media also can allow users to connect with other users’ experiences and extend solidarity based on their awareness of similar struggles: we could sense this attitude in women users’ relationships on social media platforms, as they continuously engage with others due to shared similar suffering, despite apparent diversity in terms of geography (Christian et al., 2020).
One of the primary reasons for the widespread solidarity with women’s issues, especially on social media, is the growing feminist discourse on such platforms, which reflects on issues related to lack of women’s rights, discrimination in public services, domestic abuse, and the absence of both political/social representations (Stewart, and Schultze, 2019). This discourse has acquired the ability to be dynamic in its engagement with people from different backgrounds by focusing only on human aspects and concepts of necessary empathy in social media users’ minds. Consequently, the rise of feminist ideas continues to increase in numerous areas. The feminist movement was the outcome of a combination of struggles by privileged women fighting against the overarching regulations that held them back, and mass personalised or localised efforts by women without any privileges. Since this movement was based on the necessity of altering the everyday reality, we know that legal reforms, no matter how significant, are insufficient (Al-Shehri and M, 2019).
The feminist discourse uncommonly adoption in conservative societies similar to Saudi Arabia because of its ability to encompass many ideas and not enforcing any particular ideas or practices (Tschirhart, 2012). This discourse has a proven ability to widen its perception regarding concepts within the society without seeming to enforce obligations upon users to engage in activities that could harm them. According to a study by (Szilagyi, 2015), Saudi women on a large scale wanted to fulfil the cultural prospects of the conservative Saudi Arabian society, while also taking an active role in their education and career choices.
When social media became an open space that grants an equitable platform to every user to interact without any discrimination, it began to reflect the thinking of users engaging in discussions; the ability for any group to express themselves freely, and that results in an increased awareness of this method of expression, which, in turn, might enhance the opportunities for oppressed groups to acquire a much better social status, thus increasing the probabilities for minimising any oppression of minorities in these countries.
1.9 Thesis Outline
The first chapter offers the research introduction, which reviews the background of such research in Saudi Arabia, and justifies conducting this research about social media and women in Saudi. In addition to the research targeting Saudi women’s relationship with social media, the introduction examines the context of such usage is established and developed, and thus, presents the research aims, objectives, and critical questions.
The second chapter critically evaluated the existing literature on the increasing use of social media and how it has helped push important social ideas such as gender equality and political participation worldwide. It additionally highlights the growing use of social media and its dynamics, and covers social media applications as a source of news and information for public consumption, as well as it being a means for political engagement, and a tool for protest and cyberactivism. The conceptual framework was demonstrated, and number of theories relevant to this research’s purposes were identified: specifically, the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, the technological determinism theory, the weak tie theory, the theory of ritual, and the social exchange theory.
The third chapter examines the political and social context of Saudi Arabia and explores the influence of social media use on instigating change. The role of social media in facilitating social movements and promoting human rights in general and women’s rights, in particular, was examined as well. It discusses the role of social media in bringing normative and human rights change in Saudi Arabia. in addition, this chapter explores the current evidence of social media affordances of socio-political movements and affordances on women and gender equality. Finally, the chapter highlights the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision and reflects on the current effort of reforms presented by the government to transform the country in many areas, such as economically, socially and technologically.
The fourth chapter presents the research outline, the methods adopted, the research philosophy and the rationale behind the approach used to study the phenomenon, the research design and the purpose of the academic research within the space of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. The chapter also contains vital information regarding the interview method, research strategy, sampling, and how the practice approach was significantly helpful to review the development of related events on social media. Additionally, the chapter justifies the stage before data collection with a pilot study to test the method’s ability to start a more significant project, and how it could be collected and analysed.
The fifth chapter, the first of the empirical findings, analyses the participants’ interpretation and perceptions on the current reality for Saudi women, how women empowerment programs are presented and what sort of implementation is happening on the ground. Three themes emerges in this chapter: the first is the type of programs run by the government to empower women, with the effort to recognise groups that benefit the most from similar programs. The second theme concerns the current professional society in Saudi and the women work field, as this research analyses the interviewees’ responses about the social background of many women currently active in the workforce. The last theme focuses on revisiting the biggest official project: the national transformation program (Vision, 2030). It examines how such a project in its agendas seeks to strengthen women’s participation socially and politically.
The sixth chapter, the second of the empirical findings, thoroughly examines the virtual aspect of Saudi women’s social media usage. The beginning of the chapter explores the interviewees’ responses to social media’s ability to eliminate many official/social barriers and allow many users to engage in new discussions in the society. Moreover, the chapter studies social media’s ability to create a state of collective consciousness regarding some social issues and the struggles of minorities in society. The third section analyzes the participants’ responses about how Saudi women managed to utilise social media platforms to eliminate the elite’s dominance, allowing them to represent their issues without manipulation. The chapter also visits the virtual world’s capacity to change its users’ traditions and customs.
Additionally, a section extensively analyses women’s social media usage and how many women develop skills to interact with varied issues, thus Epsom some popularity for their discourse and being engaged in a process that seeks to narrow the knowledge among a wide range of users. The research also reflects on the participants’ inputs regarding the domestic and global context for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. While this chapter analyses responses regarding the manner in which Saudi users consume news and receive information through social media, the last part presents the findings related to the interviewees’ responses about the way technological advancement has influenced the current women empowerment programs in the country.
The seventh chapter and last chapter of empirical findings analyse the collected data, with a focus on how the government interacts with the growing discourse on social media about women empowerment. This chapter mainly targets the interpretations of the official group interviewed for this research. The first emerging theme analyses the responses concerning the rising appeals for officials to introduce regulations that organise the participation from within Twitter which have legal constraints for interaction. The second theme analyses the interviewees’ remarks about how social media platforms encourage some sort of political involvement under the governing of authoritarian regimes that rapidly try to eliminate such an attitude in its citizens’ lives. The third theme reflects on the types of changes in women’s situation presented by the government. This chapter’s last analysed theme deals with one of the most effective campaigns developed in social media platforms that managed to create a broad discussion and have consistency in providing related content until its demands were met. It studies how the Kefah Ehraj campaign originated, and the approach adopted by activists to enforce cabinet decisions on the ground.
While the last three chapters scrutinise the collected data and try to gain an in-depth understanding of the interviewees’ perceptions, the eighth chapter discusses the findings in in light of the research questions. In addition to that it furthermore summarises the primary findings and establish as to whether they explain the research phenomenon. Furthermore, the ninth chapter presents the conclusion drawn from the empirical findings and the study literature review, the contributions of the research, the limitation of the research recommendations for future work and concluding remarks.
2 Chapter 2: Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
2.1 Introduction
With continuous technological advancements, the global use of social media has witnessed exponential growth. Essentially, these developments have influenced a more advanced and interactive platform for communication and exchange of social, political, and economic views. Though this has been advantageous for many countries across the world, Middle Eastern countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have benefited vastly from the emergence and spread of social media. For instance, in liberal democratic countries, engaging in activism and holding the government accountable is a common practice because people have several means to engage with political issues affecting their lives. Socio-political communication would be more likely to fulfil its requirements in an egalitarian environment where institutions, organisations and activist groups work freely with bare minimum restrictions (Habermas, 2010). However, in an authoritarian regime as Saudi Arabia, such undertakings are highly restricted due to government censorship and restrictions on the mainstream media. Hence, social media has helped in creating an avenue for discussion on pertinent socio-political issues without great distress of government limitations. Even though many are still debating the validity of having an increased sense of political engagement in authoritarian regimes, there is widespread acceptance of the claim that there has been at least some kind of influence even if it is conditional at times, but it remains an emerging reality in such countries (Owen, 2019). For example, the Saudi Arabia government has significant political control over the mainstream media, but they have mostly abstained from inferring with an Internet connection and social media usage (Chaudhry, 2014).
One of the significant areas in which online social media has been used is feminist activism and the fight for women’s rights. Through social media, feminist organisations and activists can produce knowledge, mobilise, and share information and resources online that may go a long way to push their course forward (Al Jaber, 2009). With the increasing popularity of social media, the entire face of feminism has changed. In Saudi Arabia, citizens have tapped into these technological tools to advance the debate on controversial and sensitive issues such as gender equality and discrimination in the country (Samin, 2012). However, the extent to which these tools has limited discrimination and gender inequality has not yet been explored.
2.2 The Increasing Use of Social Media and its Dynamics
Over the last decade, the number of people using social media has consistently increased, making it the most popular online activity in the world. This growth is mainly attributed to the flexibility it accords as a medium of communication. Additionally, there are various social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, among others, which offer alternative solutions to users. In a study conducted in 2011, Hansen, Shneiderman and Smith concludes that all these social networking sites have important standard functionalities that enable users to interact, communicate, share, and edit content within their social environments. Unlike the traditional mainstream media, social media rely on user-generated content which is not affected by political forces or professional inefficiencies of journalists and writers (Bertot, Jaeger and Hansen, 2012). Due to these advantages, the whole world has recorded exponential growth in usage over the past years. Figure 1 below shows the number of people using social media from 2004 to 2019.
Figure 1. Global Social Media Usage from 2004 – 2019
The spread of social media has provided a catalyst for online deliberation, which has enabled people to share their experiences, knowledge, and perspectives regarding issues that affect various members of society. Against this backdrop, Halpern and Gibbs (2013) undertook an empirical study to explore the effect of Facebook and YouTube in catalysing the online political and social deliberations. They concluded that these social media platforms “expand the flow of information to other networks and enable more symmetrical conversations among users” (Halpern and Gibbs 2013, p. 1159). This result is consistent with the position held by various scholars over a long period which maintains that social media forms a vital tool for democratising political communications, enhancing civic participation in less democratic countries (Lerman 2007; Macintosh 2004; Janssen and Kies, 2005). Social media has helped in the decentralisation of communication, allowing users to share their thoughts and engage in economic and social-political discourse they are interested in.
In order to understand the current dynamics of social media, it is imperative to overview the major differences between social media and mainstream media.
Social Media versus Traditional Mainstream Media
While traditional media used to have a substantial impact on information delivery – due to its presumed credibility – social media aids to creates a more conspicuous image on issues under debate. The contents are generated and shared, commented on, and discussed by the consumers and users (Bertot, Jaeger and Hansen, 2012). This characteristic makes social media more reliable in terms of diversity and plurality, as far as socio-political discourses are concerned.
Moreover, with more and more young people getting involved in political issues, it is essential to understand their ability to navigate between social media and traditional mainstream media. Despite social media’s increased popularity, it is essential to realise that a more significant percentage still believes in the authenticity of mainstream media. According to Skoric and Poor (2013), more attention is given to news and information disseminated via traditional media. Thus, understanding the dynamics of social media helps in identifying why it has become more popular regardless of credibility concerns. One primary reason for this shift is the relevant minimum government censorship on social media. While political coverage by traditional media has a significant impact on forming public perception, social media offers an alternative platform for discussing these political concerns. When news hits the traditional media, the level of reception and the views of the public can be easily seen on social media platforms such as Twitter which highlights the trending issues (Asur, Huberman, Sabo and Wang, 2011). Social media plays a vital role in amplifying the impact and reach that traditional media has created, hence strengthening public participation and eventual activism or other forms of citizen involvement (Effing, Van Hillegersberg and Huibers, 2011)
Al-Saggaf and Simmons (2015) conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of social media against traditional media in the case of sensitive national issues. They established that while traditional media plays a vital role in bringing news to the people, social media helps communicate the gravity of an issue, provides a platform to discuss it, criticise the authorities when they fail, and expressing the general sentiment and perception regarding issues. Social media is more effective in creating the political and social trends that may eventually culminate in significant social changes. This technological advancement offers a vehicle through which the government and conservatism receive an undesirable demand for change from the people (Chu 2009). Unlike traditional media, social media does not have the editorial structure, supervision, euphemism or censorship that may hinder the free transfer of information and open discussions (Sterns and Tennen, 2016). This nature of social media has allowed young men and women to become activists pushing for major social changes. The former now have a platform where they can share the traumatising experiences they have due to the country’s polarising gender laws (Sterns and Tennen, 2016). Subsequently, the latter can now engage in political activism. However, this does not mean that social media is entirely free from restrictions and censorship. Governments had their oversight and regulatory capabilities by employing advanced technologies by which they can screen, filter, and control the flow of online information (Hachigian, 2002).
Social Media Censorship and Surveillance
Censorship and surveillance have become twin activities that have been demonstrated to influence the relationship between civil society and the authorities, be it state or corporate. Understanding this relationship calls for the exposition of the existing definitions of the terms ‘censorship’ and ‘surveillance’ before delving into their impact in the civil society and its activities. Andrejevic (2007) defines censorship as the use of legal or official means to control or restrict speech in order to avoid the abuse of it. Rød and Weidmann (2015) explains that censorship is a regulation practice that governments and other institutions, including social media platforms themselves, adopt to control the use of social media. Organisations and government have attempted to censor the use of social media with the aim to prevent the free expression of dissent and avoid upsetting the status quo.
Similarly, according to Nielsen (2012), surveillance is defined as the process of collecting and processing information in order to shape behaviour by way of controlling, managing, supervising and regulating behaviour. The definition suggests that surveillance deals with the monitoring media activities of individuals during their interactions on social media platforms so that actual or potential violence can be averted (Nielsen, 2012). In the same vein, Dencik (2018) revealed that surveillance was associated with being watched, tracked or monitored using gadgets like closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and it had a negative connotation because it was conducted without the awareness of permission of the subject. In fewer instances, surveillance was associated with orders and security, and as such, was often conducted by people in authority. Nonetheless, surveillance was associated with the mass collection of personal data.
Surveillance and censorship over the Internet particularly social media networks are regular activities that state and corporate authorities authorise regularly, especially since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 on the United States. According to Dencik (2018), data-driven surveillance gained prominence after the Snowden disclosures, and that is when the public realised that data-driven systems had become ingrained in society. The public was persuaded to come to terms with the pervasiveness of collection of personal data by governments, especially those in the United States and the United Kingdom, considering that it was experiencing confusion concerning the data-driven systems already established and the subsequent privacy fatigue among the youthful internet and social media users (Dencik, 2018, p. 37). In this respect, Ruppert, Isin, and Bigo (2019) distinguish surveillance capitalism and surveillance culture as two interrelated concepts that are highly dependent on data, albeit in diverse ways and with disparate outcomes. Concerning the Internet, surveillance capitalism is the collection and selling of personal data for profit. Social media platforms are examples of surveillance capitalism because they collect vast amounts of personal data from users and sell it to the highest bidder, including marketers, data brokers, and political campaigners to advance their capitalistic activities. The data is collected from unsuspecting social media users as they interact using various techniques to persuade users to spend more time online. It may also be obtained from self-surveilling activities, like monitoring health through wearable devices (Ruppert, Isin, and Bigo, 2019). The information collected ranges from personal identification information to one’s personal preferences, hobbies, shopping behaviour, and friends, which can be relayed to buyers in batches or in real-time. Ruppert, Isin, and Bigo (2019) explain that the central motivation of surveillance capitalism is to influence behaviour profitably, while trade in data occurs between corporations and the users are left out of the transactions. Therefore, surveillances capitalism has three defining aspects; exploitation of multiple sources of data, unilateral expropriation of data, and application of techniques to garner spiritual authority. On the other hand, surveillance culture is a product of the systems that enable surveillance capitalism. The pervasiveness of online surveillance that exists in contemporary society has resulted from regular monitoring, tracking, and observing people during their daily routines. The surveillance culture increases awareness about ongoing observation, especially in public spaces, thus enabling people to navigate around security checks seamlessly. Its prevalence among security, corporations, and government spheres has contributed to its entrenchment in society (Ruppert, Isin, and Bigo, 2019). Dencik and Cable (2017) extend this conversation by observing that the collection of data in bulk was a regular and widespread activity conducted on the public by the state and large business enterprises through everyday communication channels. Dencik and Hintz (2017) notes that ‘datafication’ had pervaded peoples’ lives, which became prominent after the Snowden information leakages to WikiLeaks. The rapid development and adoption of information and communication technologies were evident in corporate practice and state governance, considering that information related to the behaviour of people was being collected from multiple points, including cell phones, the Internet, social media platforms, smart household devices, health applications, and smart cities. Dencik and Hintz (2017) discuss the concept of ‘surveillance capitalism’ as an emerging application of big data in predicting the behaviour of people, managing populations, and earning revenue. Notably, the United States and the United Kingdom, which are the leading capitalistic states in the world, used their intelligence agencies to surveil civil organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, UNICEF, and Doctors of the World (Medecins Du Monde). This was an indication that governments were monitoring civil society closely to understand the prevailing political temperament and activism. Dencik and Hintz (2017) explain that the normalisation of surveillance has escalated with the Snowden revelations with political authorities and corporate management engaging in routine surveillance of citizens and employees, respectively, while civil society organisations were self-censoring. Consequently, this has led to what Dencik and Hintz (2017) term ‘surveillance realism’, in which surveillance normalisation undermined organising society by limiting the strategies that could be employed. The authors advance the notion of the ‘chilling effect’ as a manifestation of surveillance realism because it reflects the extinguishing of the motivation to challenge power establishments and encourage social change. Although surveillance normalisation and its chilling effect result in feelings of disempowerment among a populace, they have inspired innovation and propagations of anti-surveillance technologies, and specifically, privacy-enhancing tools. Despite these developments, normalising surveillance had tilted power towards the state and large businesses by affording them more powerful monitoring tools justification for targeting dissidents, and away from activists, thus upsetting the power balance. However, Dencik (2018) argues that surveillance realism was a sign of the pervasive resignation among the public regarding the prevailing normalisation of surveillance and mass collection of personal data by governments and corporations, rather than consenting to this practice. The prevailing status quo is characterised by the inability to control, understand, and have access to the fate of online personal data. This was demonstrated by the findings of Dencik (2018) study, which sought to explain the implications of surveillance systems on citizens in the United Kingdom following Snowden’s revelations. By focusing on the nature of the knowledge and attitudes towards digital surveillance and the responses among political activists following Snowden’s expositions, Dencik (2018) found ambiguities and inconsistencies in the attitudes and comprehension of surveillance.
Consequently, black transparency is a phenomenon that had taken root to circumvent the restrictions of corporate and governmental transparency. Having been incentivised by the unprecedented disclosures by Snowden and Manning, De Vries (2018) argues that black transparency had emerged to contravene the excessive autonomy and control of governments presented by their surveillance and censorship strategies. Notably, black transparency seeks to reveal the highly-guarded secrets of states, and to embarrass and destabilise the security system while defending the public’s right to information. De Vries (2018) notes that in its defence of the public while also shaming the state’s security machinery, black transparency not only reveals the state secret but also foments panic in the state gatekeepers and highlights the propaganda surrounding the state’s spin mechanisms. In turn, the global surveillance activities have been resisted by being exposed through initiatives, like the Dark Web, Dark Wallet, Blackphone, cryptography, and #BlackLivesMatter (De Vries, 2018). However, pertaining to the Muslim nations, Dencik (2018) reveals that Muslims felt that they were being surveilled more than other people although other people felt that such surveillance was necessary for combating criminal activity and terrorism. To this group, dark transparency was a viable option of exposing the repressions of their authoritarian regimes.
Several instances of surveillance and censorship of the cyberspace, and particularly the social media networks have been evidenced. Gerbaudo (2017) revealed that before the pervasion of online censorship and surveillance, activists enjoyed relative freedom as they explored the new affordances provided by internet technology. This may explain why most social media organised protests emerged right after the advent of the smartphone in 2007. The activists were ahead of the authorities, and censorship and surveillance on the social networks were conducted by the platform owners.
However, governments quickly caught up after witnessing the regime-changing events in the Middle East. For instance, Munger, Bonneau, Nagler, and Tucker (2019) acknowledge that authoritarian regimes restricted the use of social media to prevent dissent and protests by either blocking the Internet or censoring online content, they introduce a third dimension in which the regimes engaged in strategic and massive online conversations that diverted attention from the discourses on problematic issues. They note that China and Russia employed this tactic and now by Venezuela, and term it a third-generation strategy. Trottier and Fuchs (2014) note that countries like Tunisia, China, and Iran had become infamous for restricting the use of social media and stifling digital activism. These countries had blocked not only social media platforms but also national and international websites while investing heavily in hacking, denial-of-service attacks and content-filtering technologies. Munger et al. (2019) call this form of online propaganda campaign regime activism geared to differentiate blockage and content censorship, as the first and second generation strategies of censoring cyberactivism and protests. However, Pan (2017) notes that censoring social media by authoritarian regimes is more effective if the social media firms are domestic rather than foreign. This explains why China was able to censor social media so effectively because social networking sites used in the country, such as Weibo and WeChat were owned by domestic firms, which was unlike other authoritarian countries where social media was dominated by firms based in the United States, like Facebook and Twitter. Therefore, although blocking these platforms disempowered activism, they only did so to certain aspects of the activism processes rather than eradicating it in totality.
In the same vein, Breuer, Landman, and Farquhar (2015) give an account of the tactics used by the Tunisian government to censor cyberactivism. The Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) interrupted email messages, blocked many websites and generated fake messages as “file not found” and error alerts (error 404) to disguise the blocked websites claiming that these websites violate public order and morality. They demanded the owners of internet cafes to hold the users responsible for their online activities and forced them to register their identification numbers. Besides, in the scaling up of online censorship that followed after the demonstrations and strikes against the Phosphate Mining Company corruption allegations in 2008, the authorities blocked Facebook, though; the blocking was reversed amid enormous online protests.
Similarly, the steps taken by governments in the United Kingdom, the United States, and China have been discussed extensively, and that demonstrates the level of commitment those states have in terms of regularising the censorship and surveillance of their cyberspace and infrastructure. Notably, the attack on 9/11 generated instability and threatening conditions which were used by the states to develop a defensive doctrine of pre-emption for dealing with uncertainty and other undefined possible threats. For example, the UK government increased control on social media and carried out mass data collection operation for policing protests. Moreover, Dencik and Cable (2017) argue that in the aftermath of Snowden leak, Western countries, particularly, the United States and the United Kingdom resorted to operating state-corporate surveillance programmes. Post-Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) launched a mass and indiscriminative data collection operation across social media sites and platforms to contain and suppress endeavours that challenge potent institutions. Political activists were concerned that this may deter activists from engaging in specific activities on the Internet thinking that this would allow them to avoid being punished or sacked, and that they may not be able to prove their innocence because they lack trust in the legal system. As a result, political activists would need to add resistance to issues related to the use of encryption and data privacy to their struggle agendas for social justice. The “data justice” concept was developed as part of resisting surveillance practices to obtain a better understanding of data politics and articulate technological resistance strategy to the use of encryption and policy advocacy related to data protection and privacy. Furthermore, Post-Snowden, governments resorted to categorising and profiling individuals according to data groupings used in the criminal justice system or the social credit scores used in China (Dencik and Hintz, 2017). According to Dencik and Hintz (2017), such categorisation helps governments predict human such that “to predict human behaviour as a means to both manage populations and produce revenue – an information order described as ‘surveillance capitalism” (p. 1).
In addition, it was noticed that surveillance had been practised by users themselves in the form of self-policing and self-regulating their activities and behaviours on the Internet.Individuals are becoming more reluctant to discuss politically sensitive issues on the Internet. For instance, search engines such as Google, and sites as Wikipedia showed a decline in searching terms or articles relating to terrorism.Even authors were practising self-censorship according to The PEN American Centre (Denick, Cable and Hintz, 2016).
2.3 Applications of Social Media
Social Media as Source of News and Information for Public Consumption
Social media has deployed into a real-time and efficient source of news for billions of people all across the world. With this technological advancement, most people became less dependent on the need to read newspapers or watch television to get news updates. In the last few years, various major news organisations have rushed to the social media space, using tools such as Twitter and Facebook to market and distribute their news content. A study by Hermida, Fletcher, Korell and Logan (2012) reveal that two-fifths of all social media users receive news shared by people that they follow on these social media platforms, while a fifth reported that they regularly receive news from individual journalists and news organisations that they follow. The reason social media is becoming the preferred source of news is that it helps users gain access to a wide array of sources and stay up-to-date with real-time events. Marwick and Boyd’s study (2011) suggest that social media has played a vital role in disrupting the traditional authorial structure, where news was created and disseminated through a structured flow of information. With this new advancement in technology, the audience does not only consume news, but also engages in discourses created by such information.
Social media platforms such as Twitter enable users to network with various kinds of audiences and offer a platform where news can be created and exchanged through the model of many-to-many. In other words, social media, connect not only the audience and the author of the news, but also connect other news consumers. Thus, contrary to traditional news media, social media allows consumers to interact and share their thoughts regarding other developments (Hermida, Fletcher, Korell and Logan, 2012). Social media creates a networked mode of communication which alters the entire publishing dynamics and shifts the roles of the audience from mere consumers to participants in news dissemination and collaborative discussion on issues. Marwick and Boyd (2011) portend that, “in contrast to the imagined broadcast audience, which consumes institutionally-created content with limited possibilities for feedback, the networked audience has a clear way to communicate with the speaker through the network” (p. 129). Social media sites form the latest invention of the public sphere wherein one creates a piece of information, shares it with those in their network, and develops a political, social, or economic discourse which they can discuss.
A study done by Purcel et al. (2010) reveal that over 75% of online news consumers receive most of their news from links shared through social media sites such as Facebook. Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the significant sources of news traffic wherein individual journalists, news organisations, leaders and members of the public share news (Olmstead, Mitchell and Rosenstiel, 2011). Thus, major news organisations have adjusted to this leaning towards social media. These organisations are now using social media sites to share links containing news and encouraging users to “like” and “retweet” (Singer et al., 2011). In this way, the information reaches more people with a lesser effort from the media houses. Thus, by using the audience to share news via their social media sites, media houses have the opportunity to promote their content while increasing visibility and encouraging customer loyalty.
By allowing sharing and discussion of news items, social media assists journalists with the opportunity to assess the desirability and level of importance of their news selection and distribution. Social media has reshaped the relationship between news producers and consumers. As opposed to the traditional practice wherein producers had autonomy in deciding what to share and how to share it, social media has created a place in which the audience decides on what they need and how they want the information to be presented (Grzywinska and Borden, 2012). Through social media, news organisations are now “understanding not only what content users will want to consume but also what content they are likely to pass along may be a key to how stories are put together and even what stories get covered in the first place” (Olmstead, Mitchell and Rosenstiel, 2011, p. 1). Essentially, social media has forged major dynamics in the news production and dissemination industry, marking a shift from journalist-centred to consumer-centred news.
Social Media as a Tool for Political Engagement
Social media serves as efficient platforms, which can catalyse online democratic deliberations on issues that affect the masses (Halpern and Gibbs, 2013). With the rise of several forms of social media, each helps expand the constant flow of information, engaging an increasing number of people in such political discourses. Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan (2013) undertook a study to explore the effectiveness of social media in political communication. They found that social media platforms are increasing the popularity of political participation, citing Twitter and Facebook as some of the sites that have been used to forge new political ideologies (Boczkowski, Mitchelstein, and Matassi, M., 2017). Essentially, these tools have been used to “continuously gather, monitor, analyse, summarise, and visualise politically relevant information from online social media”, and to understand the general political landscape of the country (Paris and Wan 2011; Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan 2013, p. 1278).
There have been significant developments in terms of social media usage and political engagement: depending on the political system and legal framework for public participation, social media projects can be designed to enable formal participation of citizens in political processes or informal participation (Pandey, Gupta, and Chattopadhyay, 2019). This practice allowed regular users to reach out to other users with the same political views much more conveniently. Since many social media users are continually engaging in debates about particular matters, this allows official establishments in different countries to become directly involved with developing discourses in accordance with the kind of popularity they gained. Eventually, such platforms could be used as a way to measure the level of the impact an issue has on society. Monitoring and evaluation of social media can be used to observe opinions, generate statistical information, and conduct polls (Pandey, Gupta, and Chattopadhyay, 2019). These can also be a far better indication of users’ political awareness, as they allow officials to extend proper responses.
However, this issue has been addressed to some extent by the power of social media. Social media provides crucial effect on shaping individual decisions in relation to political participation. Tufekci and Wilson (2012) explore the effect of social media on the public’s involvement in political and civic issues. They found that through social media, individuals are more influenced to participate in protests, organise the logistics of such protests, and even have a greater likelihood of success. People learn about these protests and political participation primarily through Twitter and Facebook posts. “Controlling for other factors, social media use greatly increased the odds that a respondent attended protests on the first day” (Tufekci and Wilson 2012, p. 363). Halpern, Valenzuela and Katz (2017) conducted a parallel study to understand how sharing of political content and news via social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook can influence an individual’s decision to participate in political activities. They concluded that “frequent usage of Facebook and Twitter for sharing political information is conducive to higher levels of participation through different efficacy measures” (p. 320). Social media posts help in exposing the weak ties that exist among citizens and help in augmenting the user’s likelihood to become aware about impending political actions and participate in the same (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung and Valenzuela, 2012). From posts or shares, new people learn of existing political or social issues that need to be addressed. By facilitating awareness about these political issues and appreciation of their gravity, social media influence more people to participate while offering a platform for collaboration and getting organized (Xenos, Vromen and Loader, 2014). Hence, social media has made political issues more contagious, calling for maximum public participation.
Political participation does not only involve protests and sit-ins but also the ability of individual citizens to communicate and share their political views. With the traditional media system, citizens’ role was limited to being consumers of political news, without any scope of sharing their thoughts publicly (Skoric and Poor, 2013). However, with social media, every individual has the chance to speak out and participate in political discourse. In their study, Gil de Zúñiga, Molyneux and Zheng (2014) examined the role of social media in political expression among citizens. They established that social media is not just a tool for social interactions but also a platform for political engagement and discussions among the people. They concluded that “social media news use has direct effects on offline political participation and indirect effects on offline and online political participation mediated via a political expression” (p. 612). With an avenue for open political discussion, even young adults, who had previously taken little interest in political issues, are now drawn to such discourses (Xenos, Vromen and Loader, 2014). A study by Chiluwa (2012) aimed to expound on the effectiveness of social media in creating and pushing for discourses of resistance. She concluded that social media is important in creating an ideology that may encourage the public to participate in social resistance. Wilson and Stapleton (2007) maintained that resistance occurs mainly through political and social discourse. Normally, the process starts with an individual or a group of people showing concern regarding some political or social issues (Treré, 2015). Through social media, these people can develop pragmatic strategies and thematic frameworks through collaborating, thus establishing a discourse for resistance (Velasquez and LaRose, 2015). Through this discourse, more people start to see the need for resistance. Through social media, activists can share the benefits of fighting for the cause, regardless of imminent consequences (Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia, 2014). In this way, social media creates a strong political force that may culminate in a protest in a bid to fight for human rights.
Moreover, officials started to post and reply to users on their personal accounts, and thus, use of the term open government started to increase in many countries in Central Asia. Open government has long been presented as a way to advance development. It is viewed as “a driver of inclusive growth” because it offers “broad citizen participation, plurality and a system of checks and balances which, in turn, provide better access to services” (O’Connor, Janenova and Knox, 2019 p. 1). At times, they would justify the approach used, a complete shift from the type of engagement that was prevalent in similar societies earlier, which recognisably did not allow individuals to engage in politics. Because of the notable rise in the level of political engagement in many countries, governments have started to engage in a lengthy process to understand the nature of such participation and the motivations that have led users to transform platforms that were designed originally for public interaction into tools for constant political engagement. The Russian example of intervening in the debate has increased in social media: in recent years, Russian authorities have taken significant steps to limit Internet freedom through regulation and intimidation (Reuter and Szakonyi, 2013). This practise is prevalent in other locations where governments had leveraged social media to advance their political and social agenda. Perhaps the most significant influence of social media in political empowerment is illustrated by the formation of a digital party as a vehicle to political power that embodies the social and political ambitions of a specific public. Gerbaudo (2019) provides an example of the Five Star Movement, which formed the Italian government in 2018, after striving for political change for the previous ten years as an internet party. Social media platforms provided the party with data-driven affordances that facilitated the delivery of grassroots democracy innovatively. Gerbaudo (2019) argues that the digital platforms had facilitated the adoption of business models in the political arena while providing the expected benefits of low entry barrier, free sign-up processes, low-cost communication, and crowdsourcing of ideas. Gerbaudo (2019) provides other examples of digital parties to be Podemos of Spain and Momentum, which is a left-wing political organisation based in the United Kingdom. These political outfits had skilfully utilised social media channels to enhance political participation and aggregate the data captured by these platforms to facilitate the decision-making process using mechanisms that are akin to those used in business enterprises, like Amazon and Facebook (Gerbaudo, 2019).
Social media as Means for Protest
Social media has great potential in coalescing individuals, communities, and nations around issues and problems (that are not receiving sufficient attention from authorities) afflicting their societies. Although social movements have a longstanding history across the world, social media has helped facilitate their expansion, reach and urgency in the issues they articulate. Staggenborg (2016) argues that social movements originated as collection actions among communities in France and England meant to articulate, defend and advance their local interests. Similarly, Rudbeck (2012) explains that social movements originated in the 1760s in Britain as a form of political action in the struggles to promote civil liberties. In this respect, the Wilkites is credited as one of the first politically-motivated mass social movement.
Social movements can be defined as “the manifestations of feeling of deprivation expressed by individuals in relation to other social subjects and feeling of aggression resulting from a wide range of frustrated social subjects” (Della Porta and Diani, 2020, p7). Flam and King (2007) view social movements as large groups of people that organise their efforts around particular issues and pursue a particular social or political goal. The Webster dictionary defines a social movement as “a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals”. Charles Tilly (1993) regarded social movements as “historically specific clusters of political performances.” Each singular performance is related to previous performances through cultural processes of mimesis, adaptation, and improvisation. By systematically analysing and comparing clusters of performances in different periods, the historian of collective action can identify changes in the “contentious repertoires,” or common forms of collective action that people follow, rather like scripts, when they make claims on power-hold. Therefore, the overarching characteristics of social movement include a group of people, the sharing of shared ideology or intentions, and the pursuit of a common course (Margadant, 1998). David Aberle (1966) proposes four types of social movements based on who was affected by the social change and how much change their elicited, to include i) revolutionary social movements that produced radical changes that transformed everyone, ii) redemptive social movements that produced radical changes that affected specific individuals, iii) reformative social movements that changed everyone but elicited limited changes, and iv) alternative social movements that produced limited changes that affected a few specific individuals (Sinaga, 2015). Social movements had and were evident across the world, including the civil rights movements, labour movements and women’s movements, more recent gay liberation movements, Egyptian revolution and the Occupy Wall Street movement that had online and physical activism and activities (Goodwin and Jasper, 2014).
In order to undertake effective activism, which can result in social movement, these four parameters are necessary “collective challenge, common purpose, social solidarity, and sustained interaction” (Sandoval-Almazan, and Gil-Garcia 2014, p. 366). The collective challenge in this instance refers to a scenario in which different people work together to achieve similar objectives despite the challenges or constraints they experience. Collective challenge is a vital requirement to perform effective activism because the notion takes into account that people have varying views as well that could influence the activism approach and influence (Mansell and Hwa, 2015). A common purpose is an essential factor in performing effective activism because the approach allows members to contribute as much as they can to the subject without any restrictions (Meikle, 2017). Having a common purpose is important in achieving the desired objective of social media activism because groups come together with similar intentions and purposes in mind. Social solidarity is vital because it emphasises the interdependence between people in a society, which permits individuals to feel that they can improve the lives of others (Oliver, Cadena-Roa and Strawn, 2003). Social solidarity improves the chances of attaining the desired goals and objectives of social media activism because it is founded on shared beliefs and values among the various groups in society (Morrice, 2019; Yamamoto and Morey, 2019). Likewise, what is important is sustained shared thinking, which allows people to have standard ways of viewing things. Tilly and Tarrow (2015) consider shared thinking a vital requirement for a successful activism process because it presents the chance to work collaboratively (in an intellectual manner) to solve the common problem or clarify particular issues, and it can happen anywhere, anytime and only needs interest and time on the part of the participants. Social media allows users to practice all four parameters, which makes it a suitable avenue for practising activism.
Emotions are a critical component of social movements. Jasper (2011) notes that emotions were instrumental in every phase of a political movement because of their unique attributes; including being generated in crowds, shaping stated and unstated goals of the movement; articulated as rhetorical expressions as well as their ability to motivate individuals towards a predetermined course. These emotions are exhibited in the collective crowd behaviour often displayed in protests and other civil activities that characterise social movements (Flam and King, 2007). In their book “Emotions and Social Movements”, Flam and King (2007), revitalise the debate about the role of emotions in social movements, also noting that although the importance of emotions had been ignored as a part of classical social movement approaches and feminist research, it has re-emerged in social movement research because of its mobilising utility. They note that the personal loyalty and affective bonds displayed in social networks were critical in maintaining active social movement organisation membership, and they generated collective emotions that were instrumental in identifying social movements and sustaining movement identities. Although collective emotions can be reciprocal or shared, reciprocal emotions that involved the feelings of people towards each other are responsible for many social movements, such as the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) that sought to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Coalition of Labor Union Women, which is a movement that connects labour and feminist movement in the United States of America, however, the protests associated with these movements were often in the form of strikes that were held locally by the aggrieved members. They rarely enjoyed massive participation from the public (Flam and King, 2007).
In explaining the influence and centrality of social media in contemporary protests, Poell (2019) argues that the intensity of social media use has changed the temporality and speed of protest communication, with potential impacts on the mobilisation, sustenance, discussion, representation and remembrance of protests. In his investigation of how the regimes of temporality in protest communication facilitated or hindered the efforts of protestors towards gaining public legitimacy, Poell (2019, p. 1) noted that social media had not eased the generation of persistent attention for structural issues related to protests, despite the participatory affordances it provided. Notably, although social media communication complemented and amplified the news items presented in mainstream media, it did so in an episodic manner unlike the sustained 24-hour cycle of coverage used by traditional media (Poell, 2019). In this case, Poell (2019) uses three protests between 2010 and 2012, which received both traditional and social media attention to illustrate the intermittent nature of social media news coverage. These included the Toronto protests during the G20 Summit, the Egyptian uprising, and the India protests following the gang-rape incident in New Delhi. Notably, crowdsourcing of news about the protest through the continuous generation of user content and its posting and transmission over Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube accelerated the mass media cycle by broadcasting ‘breaking news’ incessantly, while ignoring the anti-capitalism and poverty issues that instigated the Toronto protests in the first place. Also, in the Indian case, Twitter was the arena for the connection between feminist activists and journalists, over which new incidences of gender violence were reported, discussed, and shared. This drew attention away from the central issues that featured prominently in the protests, including the male-dominated social system in India and the systemic gender violence it facilitated. In the same vein, months before the Egyptian uprising against President Mubarak and his regime in 2011, Kullena Khalid Said, a young Egyptian that was subjected to police brutality that turned fatal, generated much attention on his Facebook page, albeit episodically (Poell, 2019). Similarly, Gerbaudo (2012) notes that in the United States and other European countries, social media had been used successfully to mobilise street protests, although they did not precipitate into political crises similar to those in the Arab countries. For instance, in Spain, Facebook was used to mobilise the Real Democracy Now movement, while Occupy Wall Street in New York managed to draw the attention of mainstream media about the financial crisis aftereffects after being mobilised over social media (Gerbaudo, 2012). Although social media on these occasions reduced the dependence on mainstream media houses, its administrators had temporal control that made the messaging episodic and focused towards daily incidents rather than sustaining the overarching issues affecting the society. Similar sentiments are echoed by Veronica Barassi in the book edited by Dencik and Leistert (2015) called Critical perspectives on social media and protest: Between control and emancipation, in which she notes that the temporality provided by the immediacy of social media had contradictory outcomes. On the one hand, social media accelerated the sharing of information and mobilisation for political support and participation, which hinders elaboration and reflection on the other hand (Dencik and Leistert, 2015). Similarly, a study by Lee (2018) revealed some contradictions to the effectiveness of social media in fomenting protest participation. While the study examined the role played by social media and its mechanisms in mobilising citizens’ participation in protests revealed that the frequency of use of Facebook was significantly associated with protest activity, and the path analysis conducted thereafter indicated that Facebook did not have a direct effect on protest participation. Rather its use facilitated such participation indirectly by facilitating purposeful consumption of news and expression of political opinions. Besides, incidental exposure to news, which was prevalent on Facebook, it did not facilitate a further expression of political opinions as a political action. Nonetheless, protests that are facilitated by social media often foment within activism that occurs in social media networks. However, Gerbaudo (2012) qualifies the roles of different social media platforms in advancing social movements further by noting that Twitter was used mostly to marshal internal coordination inside communities, while Facebook was more of a recruiting platform to enlist new members. The differences in the capabilities of diverse social media platforms and the uniqueness of Twitter in organising and implementing protests is critical in this study because it would guide the investigation of the effectiveness of Twitter as a political and social protest tool.
2.4 Human Rights Discourse on Social Media
Various international organisations expressed several concerns regarding human rights violations by the Saudi regime. On several occasions, Amnesty International, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and other rights organisations have pointed out specific human rights issues they believe affects the social welfare of the citizens (Gallagher 2005; Cox, 2010). Despite that the country has reached major milestones in achieving the standards of human rights. The government has assented to various UN human rights instruments and signed various international treaties to eliminate human rights violation and discrimination against women, and the implementation of these treaties has not yielded positive outcomes as the citizens continue to suffer from various elements of human rights violations (Alhargan, 2012).
In 2011, a faction of the Saudi dissidents attempted public protest, an endeavour which was thwarted by the authorities, which led to the arrest of several protestors (The Guardian, 2011). The anti-repression protests continue to rise in the country with hundreds of activists being imprisoned, while others lose their lives in this fight (Wilson and Graham, 2016). However, the most important development is that despite the government’s endless efforts to thwart dissent, more forces are emerging, fighting for the same cause. Now, the world is aware of the atrocities which Saudi political prisoners are subjected to, thanks to the social media. For example, a leaked medical report about these prisoners disseminated using social media tools, revealed that most of them suffer from injuries such as bruises, cuts, burns, and malnutrition (Hopkins, Kirchgaessner and Shaheen, 2019). This is an indication of the torture and the physical abuse they face. Another example, Saudi Arabia has jailed several women rights activists such as Loujain al-Hathloul, Hatoon al-Fassi and Eman al-Nafjan for highlighting the government’s complacency in fighting women’s oppression (Kalin, 2019). However, through social media, these detentions have become an issue of global concern with various organisations all over the world pressurising the Saudi government to release these activists. From these examples, social media’s role in connecting rights activists with other activists as well as human rights organisations across the world is evident.
Social media has enabled activists in the country to interact with those outside for support and information sharing. Several human rights organisations have sprung in the region, with activists demanding social and political revolutions. Now, the people of Saudi Arabia can compare their socio-political issues with those in the Western world which could help them appreciate the need for greater changes (Greco, 2016). “Activists use information technologies to promote a movement’s main ideas and gain global support” (Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia, 2014 p. 1). By sharing their problems with the whole world, through social media tools such as twitter, various rights activists have gained immense support from major human rights organisation, even as others criticise the government and call for major socio-political changes. Harrelson-Stephens and Callaway (2014)’s study established the level of resilience of the Arab human rights regime. The authors concluded that “access to new forms of social media allowed civil society to organise, publicise, and protest relatively efficiently. Social media expanded the potential role of individuals and created newly empowered latent human rights activists who emerged as leaders of the norm diffusion process” (p. 413). Thus, social media has shown to be successful in addressing the human rights discourse. Social media plays an important role in the fight for human rights and the eventual need for political change in such endeavours.
Cyberactivism
Milan and Hintz (2013) define cyberactivism as the pursuance of social or political change through collective actions that exploit the ontological and technical features of online network infrastructure or target the infrastructure itself. In this regard, cyberactivism comprises of activities, such as hacking, network disturbances, autonomous infrastructure creation, and online civil disobedience. Radical technology groups, also known as “grassroots” are examples of cyberactivists that endeavour to counteract state and commercial efforts to censure and limit media access and information content, breach individual privacy of users, and institute mass surveillance of people without their knowledge (Milan and Hintz, 2013). They note that tech and digital activism combined prompt collectivism and individualism that is infused by their informality. In the same vein, Sierra-Caballero (2018) presents a materialistic approach to cyberactivism, in which collective action can be viewed as an autonomous process of social transformation. In this regard, the Internet presents a platform upon which virtual communities engage in an informal space to advance collective projects that foster everyday awareness and recognition. In this regard, Sierra-Caballero (2018) introduces the concept of oppositional public space (OPS) in describing digital activism from a Marxist perspective by noting that these new spaces create cyberculture that is self-organising and mediatory in a distinctive fight against capitalism. In the same vein, activists leverage the temporality of immediacy afforded by social networking sites because they spread information and images rapidly, thus enabling the establishment of affinity and solidarity networks and facilitating the formation of mass social movements (Dencik and Leistert, 2015). Similar sentiments are echoed by Câmara (2016) who argues that cyberspace interactions promoted a change in social relations, and cyberactivism facilitates the construction of the feminist by promoting the identification of, relationships with, and discussions among members in their online publications. In the same context, Kemekenidou (2016) notes that cyberspace is the new battleground through which feminist activists fight patriarchy using the Internet because it provides hyperconnectivity that was limited in the physical sphere. She argues that the hyperconnectivity availed by online tools facilitates combating inequality because it is linked to empathy rather than aggression. In this regard, Kemekenidou (2016) reveals that empathetic hyperconnectivity was critical for cyberfeminism, as demonstrated by the Hollaback! A campaign that used a website and social media to publicise women harassment incidents and protest against patriarchy on the cyberspace. Likewise, Gerbaudo (2017, p. 135) used the terms “Revolution 2.0”, “Wiki-Revolution”, and “Twitter Revolution” to characterise the linkage between civic protest and digital media. He noted that the protests in Turkey, Brazil and Egypt were spurred by social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, which were able to mobilise participation through public discussions and information diffusion. Notably, these events occurred between 2011 and 2013, at the peak of anti-globalisation movements when the Internet was infantile, but before the advent of smartphones (Gerbaudo, 2017).
While women are still vastly underrepresented in the media generally, social media aids to encourage a more level playing field, accepting the voices of women from a more comprehensive array of backgrounds and countries, with or without traditional power, to be heard (Powell, 2018). The lack of enforcement of official suggestions about women’s situation in strict societies made many turn to social media platforms to document their problems. One of the most significant examples wherein social media transformed women’s status quo is the #MeToo campaign. “The #MeToo hashtag has been used more than 19 million times on Twitter from the date of Milano’s initial tweet through Sept. 30, 2018” (Anderson and Toor, 2018 p.1). Though this is an American example, it provides a vivid illustration of how social media can bring people together and form a collective force towards fighting transformative movements. Initially coined by African American women’s rights activists in 2006, this hashtag gained popularity starting from October 2017 in response to an allegation of sexual assault in Hollywood (Mendes Ringrose and Keller, 2018). On 24th October 2017, Alyssa Milano shared her traumatic experience of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein on Twitter. Several women (and even men) came out, using the hashtag #MeToo to talk about similar experiences in the industry. Influential individuals such as Terry Cruz also narrated traumatising experiences, which had been mostly believed to be restricted to women only. By the end of this campaign, several culprits were named and subjected to lawsuits and contract terminations (Mendes Ringrose and Keller, 2018). This social media movement enforced a radical change in the entertainment industry, creating a significant milestone in the fight against gender oppression and normative transformation in rape culture.
Radsch (2012) established that many women that initiated and participated in the Arab Spring uprisings were cyberactivists prior to the protests. She made these observations when investigating the role of women cyberactivists on fuelling revolutions in their countries and how they had facilitated the shift of power from the older generation of male-dominated political elites towards the youth, who constitute the majority of their countries’ population. Radsch (2012) discerns that the young female cyberactivists had helped organise virtual protests alongside physical ones, thus, rearing down the social and physical barriers between men and women and positioning the empowerment of women in the focus of political change struggle while challenging the religious and cultural taboos and norms. She also observes that these cyberactivists stood out for their application of social media and other new media technologies to transcend national frontiers and create linkages with other activists’ groups and transnational mainstream media.
Arafa and Armstrong (2015) observe that most protests in the Arab world that became known as the Arab spring started from a single event that was widely transmitted and shared over social media and then went viral. In this case, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old street vendor in Tunisia, doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire in the act of self-immolation as a protestation against repeated harassment by the authorities. In Egypt, the 2011 protest is traced back to the brutal killing of Khaled Saeed, a 28-year-old blogger by police after he captured a video of law enforcement officers in Alexandria sharing drugs they had confiscated, and posted it online. Wael Ghoneim, an Egyptian activist, acting anonymously from Dubai, created the “We are all Khaled Saeed” page on Facebook, in which he posted pictures of Saeed’s mutilated face along with his videos on YouTube, which went viral and fomented intense emotions and resentment. He noted that Internet access helped to free society because it promoted civic engagement through its tools and presented a platform for political networking opportunities and free speech. In turn, the virtual spaces of assembly afforded by social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and text messaging services enabled protesters to plan and execute peaceful protests following an initial onslaught of cyberactivism.
However, cyberactivism is often associated with echo chambers, which can amplify or extinguish the political or social agenda at hand. Nguyen (2018) clarified what echo chambers are distinguished from filter bubbles, which were terms used to explain specific social media outcomes. Specifically, echo chambers were structured to consciously and purposefully exclude alternative opinions or discredit divergent opinions to advance a single viewpoint. In turn, when used in social media, echo chambers are formed when users are persuaded to agree with a particular perspective or consider a given ideology as the correct one while filtering out any contrary or divergent opinion. Contrastingly, in filter bubbles, information is omitted accidentally and without ill intent to narrow or direct the perception of an individual towards a chosen truth or reality. Nguyen (2018) points out that both are structures of exclusion, with echo chambers using credence and trust manipulation against alternative voices while epistemic bubbles use omission in their exclusion mechanisms.
In support of the mobilising capability of echo chambers and filter bubbles facilitated by social media, Khosravinik (2017) revealed that political lobbyist, especially those supporting nationalistic or nativist politics capitalised on the structure and mechanisms of social media to advance their right-wing populist political views and gaining massive followership. In this regard, social media platforms encouraged echo chambers and filter bubble when forming groups and seeking popular support among like-minded people, while keeping them away from any meaningful discourses and interactions with others and among themselves. Features such as “like”, “share”, and “tag” in Facebook and “retweet” in Twitter were features that advanced echo chambers and filter bubbles even around pertinent political issues such as Brexit and President Trump’s election (Khosravinik, 2017, p.62).
Frick (2016) investigates the utilisation of cyberactivism in opposing regional planning as a component of activism by citizens and found that new media facilitated the directing of intense, deep-rooted emotions into the propagation of counter-narratives that subverted the planning process. The success of such planning lobbyists emanated from the echo chambers afforded by social media, in which online users aligned their worldview with other of like minds. Unfortunately, such users receded into information cocoons that protected them from divergent views and comprehensive debate because they became polarised against views contrary to their own. Boutyline and Willer (2017) explain why the filter bubble and echo chambers were beneficial to cyberactivism by noting they facilitated political and social homophily in which people tended to interact with those holding similar ideologies. In this respect, political homophily created social networks with dense and stronger ties between members of a homogenous ideology. This helped the activism participants to fortify their views and enhance their obligation to their ideological group by discarding divergent opinions that would divert them from their course (Boutyline and Willer 2017). In turn, such outcomes promoted participation in collective social action, despite polarising public opinion. In these scenarios, the echo chambers and filter bubbles created by social media campaigns have succeeded in delivering their intended outcomes in Brexit, United States presidential elections, and sabotaging regional planning.
However, echo chambers and filter bubbles undermined cyberactivism by their nature. For instance, Klang and Madison (2016) note that despite the broad utilisation of the new technologies of communication and their growing application in cyberactivism, the might create artificial participations, which is termed as a lazy form of activism, also known as “slacktivism” instead of promoting real activism. The weak ties developed in online networks may not deliver actual change despite creating enormous online activity. Moreover, social media networks had algorithms that were heavily biased politically and directed by the social norms, culture, economics, and laws if the social network service providers, which created filter bubbles and echo chambers and limited the freedom of users by forcing cyberactivism to occur with the limits set by the service providers. Similarly, in a study analysing the structural evolution of virtual communities on Facebook that influenced the emotions and engagement of users, Del Vicario et al. (2016) maintains that the echo chambers formed therein is influenced the emotional behaviour of community members. In turn, the confirmation bias propagated by the echo chambers also circulated false claims that were deliberately advanced to the members. In turn debate, concepts and information were oversimplified, flattened, and trivialised, allowing large amounts of distorted information to influence important decisions, mainly because the more active users shifted faster towards the echo chamber and filter bubble.
2.5 Conceptual Framework: An Approach to the Influence of Marginalised Groups in Social Media
Several concepts and theories are applicable in contextualising the dynamics of social media in the women’s rights movement. Castells (2013) introduced the concepts of mass-self communication and counter-power to explain the impact that digital communications and the internet have had on the institutionalised power relations in society. Mass self-communication is a novel form of socialised communication that is extensive enough to reach a global audience using the internet and digital technologies (Nechita 2012). Its multimodal nature enables digital content to be created by numerous sources that bypass the gatekeepers that regulate traditional media. It is also unique in its speed of content transmissions, which enables real-time interaction between the content created and diverse audiences without the usual spatial and temporal limitations that have plagued traditional media. In this respect, mass-self communication is a two-way communication mode that turns the message recipient into an active one, and therefore combines interpersonal and mass communication in the same package (Nechita 2012). In the end, mass self-communication introduces a new form of communication power, which empowers the audiences that were previously rendered as passive and inconsequential consumers of transmitted information.
Castells (2013) explains the communication revolution that has been precipitated by the technological convergence of different media, particularly, mass media technologies and interpersonal communication models. The resultant effects of globalisation have seen the emergence of a networked global society, which has introduced new power dynamics and shifted the traditional configuration of the power relations between the communicator and disparate audiences. Castells (2013) argues that mass self-communication and multimedia networks can be explained through a communications theory of power, which brings together the theories of communication and those of power. In his article, ‘a networked theory of power’, Castells (2011) explains that networked societies possess network-making power, networked power, network power and networking power, based on different technological and social situations and conditions. According to Castells (2013) network-making power is the new form of power that shapes the lives of people despite their willingness or absence of it, and results in new forms of determination and domination of networks. The mechanisms used controlling others in networks include the assigning of goals to networks that facilitate their constitution and programing, and the sharing of these goals, while combining resources to resist competition from other networks. In this regard, power levels differ hierarchically, with programmers holding the most power, followed by switchers in the actor-network relations (Castells 2013). In turn, networked power is premised on the relational ability of actor to impose their will over other actors through domination using the established institutional structures in society (Castells 2013). Since each network identifies and determines its power relations base of the goals that have been programed by the dominant actors, the holders of power in the dominant networks direct the power relations between networks. Similarly, network power is the social coordination that has been enabled by globalisation and technological advancements (Castells 2013). Networks have developed standards, rule, communication protocols that are inclusive, and therefore accepted to the actors in networks. Networks vary in openness, which influences the rules negotiated by the actors for facilitate the existence of communicative structures, although these rules often favour societal actors that influence the formation and establishment of networks. Finally, networking power is the power exercised by organisations and individuals that make up the networks to form the core of the global network and employs inclusion and exclusion to dictate network membership and participation (Castells 2013).
Castells (2013) continues to argue that human networks also have counter power when they are striving to change the configurations of specific networks through the disruption of the switches that regulate dominant interests in society. Consequently, these interest switches are replaced with alternative ones, thus shifting the balance of power between the holders of dominant interests and the minorities that have different interests. However, Reunanen and Kunelius (2020) explain that the concept of communicative power is credited to Jurgen Haberman and that this kind of power can be transformed into political power in a decision-making context. This transformation challenges the authority of actors, especially during the policymaking process and introduces a cultural orientation in the political theatre. Fortunati (2014) goes on to note that new media has reconfigured the balance between hidden, invisible, and visible power among diverse actors in the society, transforming the performance of politics in different countries. Specifically, new media had shifted towards users, thus facilitating their empowerment. In the same vein, Heeks and Stanforth (2015) use the actor-network theory to explain how human and non-human actors build and maintain networks. They note that the sociological process embodied by this theory has a translation component, which is critical for understanding how actors align their interests with those of others in the process of goal identification, problem characterisation, and solution finding. According to Heeks and Stanforth (2015), the translation process was characterised by problematization, interessement, enrolment, and mobilisation. Specifically, during the problematization phase, the main actors define the nature of the problem through the process of obligatory point of passage, in which indispensability is the core intention, while in the interessement phase, the principal actors impose their will on others by weakening the links of other actors and licking them into alternative interpretations (Heeks and Stanforth 2015, p. 37). In the enrolment phase, the main actors actualise their interessement by defining the roles of the members in a network and their relations within the networks. Finally, in the mobilisation phase, the principal actors usurp the potency and force of their passive actors and transform themselves into spokespeople or representatives of the passive agents (Heeks and Stanforth 2015, p. 37).
The technological determinism theory explains the linkage between technology and the nature of society by delving into the causative power control in human matters. The reductionist theory interrogates the level of influence that technological factors have over the thoughts and actions of people (Hirst 2012). It asserts that technology is a powerful force that influences culture in and the historical transformation of a society. Although the concept of technological determinism was muted in the 19th century, it is applicable in the contemporary communication landscape which has been radically changed by the advent and proliferation of digital and internet technologies. In this regard, the theory intends to demonstrate history is changed and social change is promoted by technology, media, and technological developments. According to the theory, political, social, and economic changes are spurred by innovations and developments in technology (Hirst 2012). However, the understanding of technological determinism depends on the viewpoints, which differ between hard and soft determinism. The perception of technology by hard determinists focuses on the independent development of technology, while that by soft determinists insists on the interrelated development of technology and society. However, others have argued that technological development should be contextualised within the economic and social systems in which it exists rather than the form of technology itself. Castell has used the technological determinism theory to explain digital activism, which digital communication technologies have facilitated, transforming the classical actualisation to social movements (Gerbaudo 2017). In their analysis of digital activism that has been promoted by technological advancements, Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) they noted that collective identity exhibited in social movements had been transformed into connective action by digital technologies and new media. The extensive diffusion of digital technologies has transformed the interpretation of society and introduced alternation notions of identity. In the article, “in search for the ‘we’ of social media activism: Introduction to the special issues on social media and protest identities”, Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) concluded that research in the transformation of digital technologies during the digital era was required, with focus being on the ascertaining of the dynamics and nature of collective identity occasioned by the pervasiveness of digital technologies and social network platforms. Such studies would facilitate the infusion of cultural dynamics into social protests using digital communication affordances. According to Gerbaudo and Treré (2015), media determinism is an offshoot and refinement of technological determinism, which posits that media has power that can influence society and therefore, can be viewed as being essential to civilization. Specifically, media determinism theory explains how society relates to technology and technological advancement. The influencing power of media emanates from its ability to sway mental processes and outcomes. However, Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) noted that technology alone cannot influence society without the willing participation of human being and therefore, does not impose itself onto members of society. This caveat is pertinent when interrogating the societal development that is spurred by new technologies and explaining the human-technology interaction.
The Weak Tie Theory advanced by Mark Granovetter in 1973 can be used to explain how the social network ties facilitate the flow of information, and how social media have influenced these networks. Following extensive studies in the aspects of human relationships in social sciences, Granovetter proposes the “strength of weak ties” as a theoretical framework to explain how weak ties are likely to be more influential than strong ties (De Meo, Ferrara, Fiumara, and Provetti 2014, p. 78). Specifically, Granovetter distinguishes between strong and weak interpersonal ties by reckoning that strong ties existed between known and trusted individuals, such as family, relatives and close friends. Contrastingly, weak ties existed between unfamiliar individuals vastly dispersed or relating to each other as just acquaintances. In his 1973 article, “the strength of weak ties” in which the theory was first articulated, Granovetter notes that in weak ties, information was transmitted across broader segments of the population and a more considerable social distance compared to that across strong ties. He justified this by observing that unrelated individual has transmitted new information and perspectives quickly because they were less concerned about being judged by others, mostly if the information evoked strong emotions and transgressed the norms of the closely-related circle. In addition, weak ties facilitate the sharing of information by individuals facing stressful situations because they could access diverse perspectives, which was often constrained in a homogenous group (Wright and Miller, 2010). However, Larson (2017) cautions against accepting the facilitative utility of information diffusion wholesomely through weak ties in social networks. In her argument, Larson (2017) notes that weak ties, especially in small groups, had a low capacity of facilitating the movement and sharing of new information. These limitations emanated from the scepticism between interacting individuals due to low trust levels, the limited understanding of the novel information, and the reluctance to distribute the benefits accruing from such novel knowledge.
Although this theory was formulated to explain information diffusion in the physical space, it has been expanded to the digital environment in which interactions occur over social networking sites. In this regard, weak ties on social media enhanced cohesion between many individuals of diverse characteristics and optimised the coverage of information spread (De Meo, et al., 2014). This theory is relevant to this study because it explains the ability of social media to foster the spread of information between strangers that are much dispersed geographically, thus influencing each other’s opinions and worldviews.
Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz (1995) conjured a Theory of Ritual to explain how media events play a transformative role in shifting public perceptions and shaping political discourses. This theory was advanced to explain the pervasiveness of mass media influencing people’s perceptions and discourses from the events transmitted over the television. Dayan and Katz observed that the television was being used to transmit live events that were carefully produced and highly coordinated to divert people from everyday realities and direct their attention to weak-chosen symbolic issues (Couldry, Hepp, and Krotz, 2009). Usually, the media events were choreographed to portray an idealised version, while subjugating opinions that went against the norms and ideals of society.
It is part of the ritual theories that proclaim the centrality of focused interaction in social dynamics, in which rituals invoke group emotions that form a foundation for thinking, morality, beliefs and culture, which in turn, form patterns of social interactions over time (Stets and Turner, 2014). Notably, it is drawn from a theory of ritual and emotions advanced by Durkheim used the term, collective effervescence, to describe the emotional arousal generated by rituals, increasing group membership awareness and the sacred significance of powerful external forces (Stets and Turner, 2014, p. 135). Seeck and Rantanen (2015) note that although the concepts of media rituals or mediatised rituals resulting from a convergence of rituals and media events in a predetermined and recurring manner, they are increasingly being used in unexpected events such as mass killings, school shooting, significant accidents, and natural disasters.
Although this theory was formulated during the heydays of television as the only influential traditional media, it can also apply in the contemporary environment of the new media. Specifically, information and news originating and trending on social networking sites, often makes news in the traditional media, thus reaching and influencing many more people. With social media changing the concept of news, the increasing linkage between social media and traditional media channels was helping transmit new ideas and perceptions across greater geographical distances that are unprecedented by the traditional media alone (Seeck and Rantanen, 2015). This theory has relevance in this study because of the powerful effect of social media in integrating societies by deemphasising and dissolving social divisions, thus creating a shared sense of identity among communities that were previously overlooked by choreographed and prearranged media presentations, particularly by authoritarian regimes, such as that in Saudi Arabia.
The Social Exchange Theory is a comprehensive psychological and sociology theory that explains the social behaviour of interacting individuals and groups based on the analysis of costs, risks and benefits accrued from the interaction. This theory has been developed by renowned scholars, such as George Homans, John Thibaut, Claude Levi-Strauss, Peter Blau, Harold Kelly, and Richard Emerson, with their injections of varied concepts, like distributive justice, expectancy, equilibration, correspondence-non-correspondence dyad, deprivation-satiation dyad, reciprocity, interdependence, and self-interests as the foundations of social behaviour as essentially, an exchange process (DeLamater, 2006). Notably, according to Homans, (Emerson, 1976) social exchange is an exchange of tangible and intangible activity between two persons or more that may be gratifying or pricey. In this regard, continued social behaviours sustained the mutual reinforcement of each other’s behaviours during social interactions, which in turn, can be used to explain solidarity, power, authority and distributive justice in society. Therefore, people engage in social relationships by weighing the potential benefits against the risks, in a bid to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks. Similarly, Blau perceived social exchange and being integral to social life and the relationships between individuals and groups in society (DeLamater, 2006). Therefore, social exchange, unlike economic exchange, was motivated by the unspecified reciprocity that drove the voluntary actions of individuals in the exchange process.
Although the theory has been widely proven in an offline setting, it is also applicable in online social interactions, which is the focus of this study. Notably, social exchange is facilitated by social networking sites because of their low transactional costs. Similarly, social media expands the opportunities for creating and maintaining social relations, which are not afforded by offline environments (Surma, 2016). Therefore, the theory would help to explain how social media facilitates social exchanges of narratives, ideas and information related to women empowerment issues, articulating their problems, and inviting interactions in the generated discourses.
2.6 Summary
This chapter explored the literature and research undertaken regarding the dynamics of social media usage. Regardless of credibility concerns, social media became more popular than traditional mainstream media because of its dynamics and characteristics. Unlike traditional media (that forms public perceptions), social media allows generating, sharing, commenting on and discussing political issues by the users. Various empirical studies have explored social media’s ability to facilitate political and social engagement in public affairs and concluded that social media impacts restrictions and censorship that might exist in mainstream media, thus allowing a direct or transparent channel of communicating information. Though, social media is not entirely censorship-free since governments have also used advanced technologies to monitor, filter and control the flow of information on the internet and to carry out mass data collection and surveillance operations to predict human behaviours.
These dynamics of social media has facilitated political activism and protest in different parts of the world. By enabling the establishment of affinity and solidarity networks, social media platforms has facilitated the formation of mass social movements. Feminist groups turned cyberfeminism on social media to promote feminist discourses, combat inequality and fight patriarchy because of the empathy the online tools provide. Furthermore, the conceptual framework of this research was illustrated.
Several relevant theories were revealed in the conceptual framework that would help conceptualise the usage of social media as an indication of societal modernization through embracing new technologies in society. Three theories, specifically, the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, and the technological determinism theory have been identified and discussed as pertinent theories that help explain the way in which human beings and human societies interact with and adopt new technologies in their development and modernization journey. These theories underpin the pervasive forces of globalisation that have transformed the classical physical networks of interaction into virtual communities and networks, as an indication of societal modernization through the internet and digital technologies. For instance, the communications theory of power demonstrates the convergence of communication and power theories that introduce a new dynamic into societal power relations afforded by the pervasiveness new technologies. Similarly, the actor-network theory introduces the notion of networks and the intricacies of the pursuit of individual and group interests among disparate players in society and the balancing of those interests that enable dominant groups to pursue their interests without stifling the interests of the less dominant ones. Meanwhile, technological determinism theory explains how technology influences the power relations between human beings, influences the history of human evolution, and facilitates social change in the modernization journey in contemporary societies. The explanations these theories will provide about the nature and role of social media in facilitating and promoting social change are relevant to this study, considering that the Saudi society is considered highly collectivistic, persistently paternal, and very hierarchical based on Islamic religious beliefs and Arabic culture. Moreover, these theories will help explain the online-offline relationships among the stakeholders of women empowerment and rights in the Saudi setting and the peculiarities of the Saudi women, as oppressed groups, that pursue social change to transform their socio-political circumstances.
Furthermore, three other theories delve into the specifics of human interaction with and adoption of social media, as a new and transformative form of technology. The theories include the weak tie theory, the theory of ritual, and the social exchange theory, While, the Weak Tie Theory explains the ability of social media to spread information between strangers all over the world and bring them to agree on particular views regardless of distances and geography, the Theory of Ritual helps in understanding the transformative role of social media in public perceptions and shaping political discourses. The Social Exchange Theory serves in understanding how social media facilitates social exchanges of narratives, ideas and information related to women empowerment issues.
3 Chapter 3: Social Media as an Instigator of Socio-Political Change in Less Democratic Regimes: Saudi Arabia as an Example
3.1 Introduction
In Saudi Arabia, women have achieved only a very low status in the social order, and their issues have been mostly disregarded, as they have not acquired many rights. Until recently, women were not allowed to travel abroad without the permission of their guardians. Although, this was changed earlier in the year and women were given permission to drive cars, after a long time of this being forbidden (Molana-Allen, 2019), there is still a long way to go before women achieve any significant role in policy-making. Perhaps, the most notable factors in the discussion about women’s low level of representation in many social bodies is their inability to share their views because they are rarely invited to the table. This not only affects the discussion but limits it further, as men make vital decisions on behalf of women, and women’s assessment of the situation to come up with the most appropriate verdict remains unrealised.
One of the major ways to achieve reforms in any country is to have a system that is inclusive for minorities and less fortunate groups and offers them a higher degree of official/social representation. Whenever programs are provided with the aim to empower, officials should acknowledge that such a change could not just happen only because of some presumptions. Giving women the proper and equal positions as men in organisations is the only way to empower them meaningfully and and to ensure that the reforms are effective (Rashad, and Kalin, 2019). Saudi Arabia is yet to redefine this situation fully. The widespread adoption of social media by Saudi women has now revealed the ground reality. Thus, Saudi Arabia is starting to witness an improvement in the way women are integrated into society, starting with laws related to harassment and regulations (regarding such crimes) to persecute the offenders. Furthermore, women have been largely adopted into the work field, which has resulted in many women taking over jobs that previously were primarily male dominated.
3.2 The Political and Social Context of Saudi Arabia
The political system in Saudi Arabia is a dynastic monarchy where the king enjoys almost all the powers. Jurisdictions in Saudi Arabia are primarily characterised as undemocratic and authoritarian political systems. For example, political leadership is a reserve for a few elites, with the remaining population having almost no chance to participate in political leadership (Abir, 2019). Consequently, very few people are interested in becoming involved in political issues. They are frightened of the government’s tendency to subject political dissidents to punishment, forcing them to either accept the existing political system or decide to remain silent about it. The royal family has managed to maintain the status quo by suppressing any form of democratic dissent by the general public. A Saudi Prince once said, “We, who studied in the West, are of course in favor of democracy. As a matter of fact, we are the only true democrats in this country. But if we give people the right to vote, whom do you think they’ll elect? The Islamists. It is not that we do not want to introduce democracy in Arabia—but would it be reasonable?” (Ménoret, 2016, p. 1). This has always been the mentality of the country’s elites, who claim that the Islamists can never observe democracy even if they are democratically elected. The irony is that the Saudi leadership is suppressing democracy so that they can maintain their own form of democracy. Due to this, thousands have been imprisoned and even executed for attempting to disrupt the regime (Sloan, 2014). Despite the repressive environment and the dire consequences of dissent, a number of Islamism-inspired social movements have sprung in Saudi Arabia, protesting or attempting to protest the existing political regime.
Religion and tribalism are essential components of Saudi social structure. According to Article 1 of the constitution, ‘The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a fully sovereign Arab Islamic State. Its religion shall be Islam and its constitution shall be the Book of God and the Sunnah (Traditions) of His Messenger’. Socially, Saudi Arabian society is built along the tribes. In fact, according to Sukkar (2010, p.5), the establishment of the modern state of Saudi Arabia was partly a result of a traditional religious-tribal alliance. In addition, in light of Hofstede’s culture dimensions, Saudi Arabian culture is highly collective, more masculine than feminine, has high power distance and low uncertainty avoidance (Obeidat et al., 2012). Consequently, these strict social characteristics generated enclosed family structure, which mostly impacted women’s rights and freedoms. For instance, tribal culture considers women work in the health care services or hospitals inappropriate or even shameful. Women are socially banned from working in various sectors because of the traditional belief that women should not mix with unrelated men. Despite the long demands of Saudi women activists for equality and non-discrimination, it was not until a Royal Decree was issued in 2019 to grant women more rights. Significant improvements were made in terms of lifting the ban of women driving, easing the guardianship law, giving adult women more power over domestic issues such as allowing them to obtain child birth certificate, enrol their kids in schools, apply for a national identity card and become legal custodians of their minor children (Martin, 2019).These improvements were part of the Vision 2030 introduced by the Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman in 2016 which emphasised women empowerment and modernising the country.
3.3 Social Movements in Saudi Arabia
One of the earliest social movements in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the Sunni Islamist Movement, also referred to as the Islamic Awakening. This movement was organised by the Sahwa, an alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis. While the Salafis believed that the religious morality of the Kingdom should start at the individual level, the Muslim Brotherhood argued that that society could only be reformed if the state takes the mantle in exercising absolute moral authority (Ménoret, 2016). One thing that the two groups believed in was that people should not use religion as a way of immersing in and maintaining power. They accused the Al Saud royal family of subjecting religion to politics and political powers (Ménoret, 2016), believing that the royal family is subverting the will of God by mobilising religious networks, so that they can gain power and use it as a bargaining chip in their collaboration with other countries such as the United States and other Middle East countries (Al-Rasheed 2006). Due to this reason, during the 1990–1991 Gulf War, the Sahwa organised a protest movement in response to Saudi’s alliance with the Americans. The kingdom was used by the US as a major launching pad during the war, a situation that the Islamists considered a gross violation of Islamic teachings (Al-Rasheed, 2002). They also demonstrated against other political vices such as “independence of the judiciary, respect for human rights, freedom of expression, a ban on torture, a stronger welfare state, and an end to corruption” (Ménoret, 2016 p. 3). In response, the Saudi government repressed this movement by torturing and killing protestors and sentencing others to prison.
One of the relatively recent political movements which have transpired in Saudi Arabia is the one headed by the Association for Political and Civil Rights (HASM), referred to as the jam‘iyya al-huquq al-siyasiyya wa-l-madaniyya in Arabic. This organisation was founded by human rights advocates, Sahwa activists, and other civil society activists. HASM’s major contribution was that it reinvented the concept of Islamism, and it converted the system into a form of civil society activism with the primary aim of creating political reforms (Al-Rasheed, 2016). They employed a nonviolent approach to protesting while encouraging the philosophy of “struggling by words” (Al-Rasheed, 2016). Their primary means of opposing the state was founded on the peaceful struggle which involved public speeches that outlined the political and social problems that needed to be addressed. While HASM encouraged peaceful demonstrations, they urged the government to stop repression of peaceful protest, as that could accelerate political violence. Despite the peaceful nature of HASM, the members were arrested and subjected to public trials. According to Ménoret (2016), their trials provided an opportunity for other activists to further push for advocacy and collective action, in response to the injustices that the Saudi government was demonstrating in this case. Through the Riyadh Specialised Court, the founders of HASM and other members were sentenced to long-term imprisonments. This court was formulated in 2008 for trying and sentencing terror suspects and dealing with cases of terrorism (Baitalmal, 2019). In 2013, the same court dissolved HASM and categorised it as a terror organisation. This is just one of dozens of similar cases in which activists were considered terrorists following the vague definition of this term in the country’s legal system.
Another social movement which hit the political fabric of Saudi Arabia is the Anti-Corruption movement which started in 2009. November 25, 2009, was marked as “Black Wednesday” for the people of Jeddah – a major port city in Saudi Arabia (Momani and Fadil, 2010). Heavy rains and storm on this day led to flooding, which resulted in the death of around 400 people and the destruction of millions worth of properties (Momani and Fadil, 2010). This catastrophe occurred during the time of the Mecca pilgrimage, because of which most of the security, civil defence workers, as well as fire-fighters were deployed in the Holy City, leaving Jeddah with no substantial governmental support. So, the denizens and some activists took upon the role of providing aid to the flood victims. Other organisations such as pro-Palestine activist networks, Sunni Islamists, and architectural conservationists led the process of mobilising support and rescue for the victims (Ménoret, 2016). Using social media and other communication platforms, activists launched a relentless pursuit to find the answer. They soon realised that the municipal government was responsible for the damage caused by the flood. They accused the local government of haphasardly providing building permits without following due process and failing to properly manage storm water systems. The activists posit that the disaster was manmade as the municipal government failed to allow proper development of the flood plain, maintenance of drainage, and provision of sufficient sewer connections (Momani and Fadil, 2010). This was one of the few cases in Saudi Arabia when the activists secured the government’s favour. After an inquiry commission set by King Abdullah, several municipal officials were found callable and sentenced to jail (Al-Sibyani, 2013). Through collaboration and effective communication, the activists were able to influence the decision of the government, which gave them the justice they sought.
Another significant social movement that took place in Saudi Arabia is the anti-repression movement. This movement was borne out of the collaboration between the Saudi government and the US during their war on terror. After the 9/11 attacks, the US used Saudi Arabia as a major base for evidence collection and suspect interrogation of the alleged Al-Qaeda members (FBI, 2004). During this period, thousands of Islamists “disappeared” in the hands of the security forces, tens of thousands of political prisoners filled Saudi prisons (Alsharif, 2011). These prisoners underwent obscene violations of human rights. They were tortured, raped, forced to confess their supposed crimes, and subjected to inhuman physical punishments (Sampson, 2005). Any effort by the public and the activists to lobby for justice for the suspects was forcefully thwarted by the Saudi government. Due to the high levels of repression, more people became conscious of the atrocities that the government was subjecting the terror suspects to (Ménoret, 2016). Family members of many of the prisoners started demanding a fair process for their loved ones. This is an example of a social movement that was accelerated by repression, rather than being slowed down by it. As more prisoners were getting arrested, more family members joined the activist group. This process has resulted in one of the most significant social movements in the country.
This social movement is one of the most unique ones, with many of its elements still remaining in the country today. The peaceful project was officially launched in October 2003, and ironically, was headed by the Interior Ministry. Thousands of political prisoners’ families and friends gathered around the Riyadh Human Rights Conference, while others performed sit-ins in various Riyadh mosques. Some of these protests involved camping in front of the Interior Ministry’s offices as well as confronting the police officers (Ménoret, 2016). Even with the end of the US war against Al-Qaida, the Saudi Government still held hundreds as political prisoners which solicited continuous demonstrations demanding due process. Even during the 2011 Arab uprisings, the protests continued in the country, with women chanting and making slogans, compelling the government to release the prisoners (Al-Rasheed, 2016). In order to quell the continuation of these protests, the Saudi government formulated a royal decree defining terrorism in general, vague, and incriminating terms as “any action that is aimed at harming public order, or disturbing the security of society or the continuity of the state, or insulting the reputation of the state” (Royal Decree, 2013). The decree further stipulated that any act that propagates the tendency of atheism, any form of doubt towards the Islamic law, allegiance or membership to any political party, organizing and participating in sit-ins, attending meetings that may create social discord, and any form of political dissidence will be considered as an act of terror. With such a vague and broad definition of terrorism, every act of activism in the country is now considered terrorism. Several activists have been jailed for trying to push for social and political change.
The history of social movements in Saudi Arabia was always heavily associated with women matters, particularly the ban on driving cars. In the early 1990s, when the first campaign to demand that women be allowed to drive on November 6, 1990, when forty-seven Saudi women went out to drive in Riyadh’s streets (Tsujigami, 2018). The campaign was met with deterrence, as all its participants were arrested, prevented from traveling, and dismissed from their jobs. (Heintzen, 2017). This movement is the most prominent movement through which the stage of demanding women driving a car was launched, and during the following years, this demand was forbidden. However, as the years progressed, some female writers and activists circulated it and demanded it shyly through their articles and television interviews without any move on the Ground. (Pharaon, 2004)
The emergence of the Internet has a significant impact on Saudis and women’s lives in this context. Saudi women activists have utilised the rising popularity for blogs among the young generation by launching one of the most active blogs; Saudi Women’s Rights blog was launched in 2010, a blog that aims to “introduce and improve the conditions of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by raising awareness and publishing statistics, research and studies. It also aims to raise awareness of violence against women and girls and to guide women to the resources available to them in situations of exposure to the violence of all kinds” (Editorial team, 2010)
Those in charge of this blog contribute to monitoring and documenting all matters related to women’s rights issues in Saudi Arabia, including reports, human rights movements, regulations, and new laws. The blog’s Q &A page also provides essential answers and information to women who experience violence or need help. (Abdulaziz, and Bin Omirah, 2017)
The issue of driving returned to the surface after 21 years. On June 17, 2011, Saudi women returned to demand that they be allowed to drive on the hashtag # My Right_My Dignity, after activist Manal Al-Sharif published a video clip calling for women to drive (Tsujigami, 2018) starting from June 17. She was arrested while driving her car before the start of the campaign, on May 20, 2011, but this did not discourage many Saudi women who have already gone out and drove their cars on their cities’ streets. (Abdulaziz, and Bin Omirah, 2017). Videos have spread, as women were documenting their participation, and many of them have been arrested and discharged after signing a pledge along with their parents, which prevents them from driving cars once again (Wheeler, 2020)
Two years later, a new campaign appeared to demand that women be allowed to drive and called on women to go out to drive on October 26, 2013. The campaign organisers put in an electronic petition stating the demand to lift the driving ban on Saudi women, and more than 17,000 citizens have signed this petition. (Tsujigami, 2018) Many women who own international driver’s licenses have also driven on the streets of the Kingdom and documented this with videos posted on the Twitter hashtag to support the campaign. (Abdulaziz, and Bin Omirah, 2017)
The authorities’ response to this campaign came before the day set for it, as one of the organisers was arrested, and the Ministry of Interior summoned some prominent activists in the campaign. Local newspapers published headlines and pictures of the deployment of security forces in the streets of major cities to arrest the participants in the campaign, although about 50 women got out on October 26 and drove their cars and documented this through video clips posted on the campaign hashtag; While 14 women were arrested. One of them was Loujain Al-Hathloul. (Rijal, and Khoirina, 2019)
On November 30, 2014, Loujain Al-Hathloul revived the demands of driving again, after she drove her car from the UAE, trying to enter Saudi Arabia by land, taking advantage of the absence of a law in the Saudi traffic system that designates preventing women from driving or issuing driving permits. (Tsujigami, 2018)
Loujain documented her full participation through her Twitter account until she was stopped at customs and could not cross the border. She was arrested for 73 days, and a travel ban was issued for nine months (The Guardian, 2014). Furthermore, Journalist Maysa Al-Amoudi was also arrested in the same period because she drove her car from the UAE to the border, in solidarity with Loujain during her arrest. (Mackey, 2014)
The demands to drop the male guardianship law started at the beginning of 2011 when some activists on Twitter and Facebook created the hashtag #saudiwomenrevolution, in which they demanded the full citizenship of Saudi women, the abolition of the guardian’s authority, and the reduction of guardianship for women (Geser, 2011)
the right to grant citizenship to their children, the right to drive, and the right to participate in municipal elections (Dantoin, 2018). Although this demand has declined for some years, before coming back to the agenda a few years later, there have been calls from time to time from several activists and female journalists specialized in women’s rights issues, whether through articles or television interviews and Twitter hashtags for this demand. However, up until the day the government declared its intention to abolish the male guardianship law, the demands have gained a tremendous momentum that has continued for nearly 800 days. (Thorsen, and Sreedharan, 2019)
A cabinet decision was issued allowing citizens to elect municipal councils candidates in 2004, but this decision did not include female citizens, who were denied the right to vote and participate as candidates in these elections (Ménoret, 2005). The first demands for Saudi women to be given their right to vote began in 2011, as part of a Twitter campaign on the hashtag #saudiwomenrevolution (Saudi women’s revolution). Women demanded that laws be amended to guarantee Saudi women full citizenship, including voting (Geser, 2011).
Concurrently, the Baladi (my country) campaign was launched via Facebook and Twitter and organized by civil founders. Two women were vocal organisers, Fawzia Al Hani and Hatoun Al Fassi; the goal was to raise the level of awareness of community members and institutions of its importance to participate in the municipal council elections and to strive for women to obtain their right to vote and run in the 2011 municipal elections (Arab Gulf States Institute, 2018). Before the municipal council elections, several activities launched the hashtag #SaudiGirlsUnite to demand women’s participation in the municipal elections. The activists called for women to go to the polling stations and demand that they obtain a voter card. Many women participated in this campaign and documented their attempts on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, but they were not allowed to participate in the voting process (Abdulaziz, and Bin Omirah, 2017).
On the same side, other activists called for an organized boycott of the municipal elections through their Twitter accounts the hashtag # nointekhab (do not vote) since these municipal councils do not meet with the aspirations of the people, as they are a semi-elected advisory council with restricted powers (France-Presse, 2011). However, the demands to participate in the municipal elections continued, and it was not met until 2015, as Saudi women were granted the right to vote and participate in the membership municipal council elections (BBC.co.uk, 2015). In that year, despite the low powers granted to those elected in the municipal councils, 978 female candidates registered themselves in the candidates’ list, which includes 5938 candidates (Quamar, 2016).
One of the prominent movements that encouraged the spread of the culture of protest and gathering for social demands, in coordination with social networks, was demands presented by old graduates of Education Collage who are excluded from employment for a long time (Abdulaziz, and Bin Omirah, 2017). They organized a sit-in outside in front of the king’s palace, the royal court, and the Ministry of Civil Service with the national flags and pictures of the king being carried in a request to meet the king for several years without fatigue or boredom, while they constantly communicate via the hashtag (old unemployed Education College graduates). (soutaljazeera.com, 2019). organize places to meet and discuss their conditions. In 2014, Noura Al-Otaibi, the official spokesperson for the unemployed, was arrested by the authorities on the grounds that she intended to organise a large protest in front of King Abdullah’s palace in Riyadh, she was released later, and despite this, they are continuing to this day with the same hashtag and the same demand (Alabuosh, 2019).
Campaigns did not stop at these areas only, but branched out and included many issues such as, demands for greater representation of women in the Shura Council, gyms for women, allowing female university students to leave the university during the day without conditions, stopping the violence towards many women, whose cases have become a public opinion, and even put strong pressure towards accountability for the perpetrator Like the case of Lama Al-Roqi and the abuse victim Khadija.
Nonetheless, The government met many of these demands at a later stage. As it appears that Saudi women have deployed from these platforms an arena for expression and civic action, in light of the weakness and absence of real public platforms on the ground in which women’s voice is heard in all impartiality and without discrimination. Considering the insufficiency of many laws in the country.
3.4 Social Media and Political Change in Saudi Arabia
The landscape of Saudi Arabian media has undergone drastic changes. As early as the 1990s, satellite channels were the primary sources of news in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. The main broadcasting players in the industry were Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya, which were the only satellite television channels that aired news 24 hours. Al-Jazeera was even more invasive and controversial as it dealt with issues such as human rights and gave airtime to Arab dissidents as well (Harb, 2011). These news organisations played a vital role in influencing political change in the region. In Saudi Arabia, most television and radio broadcasting is controlled by the government. The continuous rise of social media has replaced traditional mainstream media. Research by Oxford Business Group (2017) estimated the rate of Internet penetration in the country at 93%. This implies that more than 30 million Saudi Arabian have access to the Internet and can use social media of whom 42% are females. A subsequent study by Digital Marketing Community revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media with over 15 million users, followed by Snapchat at 13.65 million, Instagram at 13 million, and Twitter at 11.27 million (Davis, 2019). As an increasing number of people are getting on social media, traditional mainstream media is becoming less popular. Hussain and Ahmad (2014) undertook a study to examine the extent to which online newspaper companies have used social media to spread news in the Saudi Arabian context. These scholars concluded that these companies have benefited from integrating social media handles on their websites. This finding was further reinforced by Lee and Ma’s (2012) study, in which they portend that the exponential trend of this culture can be mainly attributed to the benefits of using social media in the news broadcast industry.
Furthermore, like other countries in the world, people in Saudi Arabia have used social media as a tool for cyberactivism to instigate greater political participation and further social change. Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia (2014) explore how social media has been used for social and political activism and how such endeavours have influenced government decision-making and its relationship with the people. They concluded that social and political protests have shifted their nature from the traditional approach to contemporary cyberactivism. Bevington and Dixon (2007) and Morrice (2019) wrote that activism is changing and technological growth has formed new ways for individuals and groups to advocate for change. The ability to call for change on social media has created the opportunity to redefine the basis of transparency needed for various organisations, which makes it possible to achieve the desired change (Newton, 2020). So far, Saudis have engaged in cyberactivism that have garnered considerable criticism. For instance, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi – a prominent Saudi dissident journalist – by the Saudi Agents in Saudi’s consulate in Istanbul (Roth, 2019) reached the whole world through social media, soliciting condemnation from various rights organisations globally. In response to the global pressure, mainly accelerated by Twitter and Facebook, the Saudi government sentenced some of the agents to execution and others to long-term imprisonment (Hubbard, 2019). Activists also turned to social media to express their disappointment in the way the Joint Incidents Assessment Team handled its conflict with Yemen and criticised the government for being too harsh, particularly in its deployment of air strikes. The increased participation of members of the public through social media avenues suggests that the technological growth is influencing societal practices in a way that could shape how leaders make decisions (Human Rights Watch, 2020). These are some of the many cases in which social media acted as a tool to steer political change and involvement.
3.5 Social media: A Tool for Voicing the Plight of Women and Gender Rights
Social media has contributed as an important means for voicing the pleas of women in countries all over the world. Social media offers a “media ecology mix in the conduct of environmental politics, playing a direct role in political communication, strategies, and actions” (Hutchins, 2016 p. 25). Using various initiatives through Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, Saudi women have initiated collaborative engagements in a bid to foster policy deliberations and demand for more inclusive policies by the government (Newsom and Lengel, 2012). Using tools of social media, these women have managed to mobilise various like-minded individuals to speak as one voice and share their frustrations with the public (Keller, 2012). In this way, the rise of social media has enabled Saudi women to experience a major shift from a system in which issues such as gender equality were suppressed and could not be discussed publicly.
Through social media, debates such as disproportionate employment opportunities in the country have become public discourse. Even with high levels of academic achievements, Saudi women still face discrimination in employment and leadership opportunities. A study by Syed, Ali and Hennekam (2018) concluded that this unfortunate status is a result of socio-cultural factors defined by the wasta, which calls for modesty and family honour among women while encouraging gender segregation and discrimination in work. A study by the Global Gender Gap Report (WEF) (2017) reveals that Saudi Arabia has one of the widest gender gaps in the world – ranked 138 out of 144 countries – making it very difficult for women to achieve equal economic and political empowerment. Similarly, the wage gap between men and women is wide, with women getting at least 40% lesser pay than men for the same work (Syed, Ali and Hennekam, 2018). Labour market participation has a ratio of 2:8 in favour of men – despite the literacy levels between men and women being impressive, as high as 96.5% and 91% for men and women respectively (World Economic Forum, 2017). These are some of the statistics that the general population may not be aware of. By using social media, such information has been disseminated and the experience of their repercussions has been shared by people across the country.
The patriarchal structure of the Saudi community has relegated women to a position where most of their fates are determined by the males in the society (Alwedinani, 2016). Some women who have come from such backgrounds are becoming more adoptable for such reality of oppression and discrimination they regularly face. However, there is a section of women, as well as men, who have realised the atrocities that this social system has burdened the female gender with (Thorsen, and Sreedharan, 2019). Therefore, they have used various approaches to voice their grievances and push for positive social change. Through social media, women have accessed opportunities to demand better social status, resist oppressive policies, and negotiate with the existing patriarchal regime to consider formulating more inclusive policies (Alwedinani, 2016). Several women have been pushed to arranged marriages, discriminated against, forced to work in dismal and humiliating conditions, and even barred from essential undertakings such as driving (Keskġn and Turan, 2017). These have resulted in painful experiences that several women now share through their social media handles. By sharing experiences and knowledge regarding this topic, powerful discourses have been initiated. Such discourses have resulted in gender activism and the push for social change.
Social media has presented feminists and women rights activists the opportunity to share knowledge with the public, helping victims of gender oppression and fostering positive relationships between men and women. One of the ways through which women activists have captured the minds of the public is through sharing the dismal statistics regarding gender inequality in the country (Xiong, Cho and Boatwright, 2019). Through social media, feminists and women rights activists can educate the public about women’s rights and the existing Saudi policies and culture responsible for women’s oppression. Consequently, it has become apparent that millions of Saudi women are victims of oppression and discriminative marriage laws (Voorhoeve, 2012). Some conservationists still push for planned marriages and strict sexual rules that only apply to women. In several cases, women who have tried to defy such laws have ended up being victims of severe punitive measures such as being disowned by the family. Through social media, some of these victims get to share such experiences and even appeal for help from willing individuals (Manikonda, Beigi, Liu and Kambhampati, 2018). Such undertakings have not only provided solace to the victims but also opened the eyes of the public regarding how damaging some of these gender-based laws can be.
Feminists and gender rights activists managed through the social media platforms to bring men into the fight and create a healthy partnership between men and women. In order to fight for the rights of women, it is imperative that men become an equal part of this battle (Messner, Greenberg and Peretz, 2015). Over the last decade, more men have seen the overall benefit of giving women equal opportunities (Baily, 2015). Essentially, several men have joined the bandwagon of feminism, fighting to topple discriminative gender laws in various sectors all across the world. Wiley, Srinivasan, Finke, Firnhaber and Shilinsky’s study (2013) reveals that bringing men into this struggle for gender equality encourages a sense of solidarity with feminists, hence creating a collective force to support women. Such an undertaking has become more popular mainly due to the increasing use of social media in feminist campaigns. For this reason, social media has created a platform where women can bring men on board and join forces to put more pressure on the government and conservatives to end gender-discriminative laws and policies.
Social media is fast becoming an effective tool for empowering women in Saudi Arabia, which makes it necessary to understand the significance of using various social media avenues for activism in the Arab region. Goyanes (2019) and Mourtada and Salem (2011) state that the political and societal changes sweeping the region have empowered large portions of the population. Mourtada and Salem (2011) assert that stereotypes have been crushed, with Arab women and youth becoming the leading drivers for regional transformations. In particular, Arab women have become increasingly engaged in civic and political actions, serving essential functions in the historic and rapid transformations that have taken place in the region (Marzouki, 2015). Boczkowski, Matassi and Mitchelstein (2017) and Mourtada and Salem (2011) attribute the increased participation of the youth and women in political and civil practices to the emergence of social media that increased exponentially across the Arab world (starting from 2011) coupled with major changes in the forms of usage. Other than simply offering people the chance to socialise and entertain themselves, social media now transforms every aspect of everyday life, influencing how people do business, interact with the government, or participate in civil society movements.
The influence of social media on the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia has been highlighted repeatedly, but very few studies have aimed to offer more insight on the topic. The Gender and Public Policy Program and the Governance and Innovation Program (GIP) conducted a joint study at the Dubai School of Government with the motive of exploring and explaining the virtual gender gap, the trends of social media usage, and the impact of social media as a tool for empowering women (Mourtada and Salem, 2011). The survey that ran from August to October 2011 targeted male and female participants of all ages. It showed that while it is essential to overcome the gender gap associated with social media use in Saudi Arabia in which more males have the chance to express their views, the online avenues enhance the participation of women in civic, economic, political, and legal areas (Mourtada and Salem, 2011). A larger percentage of men than women, for example, were found to use social media to raise awareness and spread information concerning the happenings leading to revolutions and uprisings during the Arab Spring and other uprisings (Gerbaudo and Trere 2015; Trere, 2020). The study shows that social media offered women the chance to express their feelings regarding the societal barriers and obstacles they faced, which deny them the chance to advance alongside men (Mourtada and Salem, 2011). Furthermore, the findings indicate that social media changes how women engage in various issues, and that was impossible before the age of social media, which makes these platforms a suitable avenue for change.
However, while there have been initiatives to improve women’s participation and social place using social media, at the same time, the Saudi government is investing in pro-government groups that use social media avenues to attack and criticise activist groups, undermining their impact. Manal al-Sharif decided to quit Facebook and Twitter stating that the social media avenues have become channels for oppressive states to silence and harass activists and campaigners (Graham-Harrison, 2018). Al-Sharif managed to attract nearly 300,000 followers on her Twitter account, calling for increased freedom and rights for women, but chose to close it following the realization that the Saudi government invests a tremendous amount of money to exploit leading social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to castigate campaigners, especially those advocating for women’s rights (Graham-Harrison, 2018). A Human Rights Watch report exposed The High Cost of Change document detailing ongoing abusive and arbitrary acts by the Saudi authorities targeting dissenting groups and activists since the start of 2017. The report detailed how despite the significant transformations for Saudi youth and women, the ongoing violations indicate that the rule of law in the kingdom requires changes and can be toppled by the nation’s political leadership (Human Rights Watch, 2020). The attempts to use social media to express the opinions of the oppressed populations in Saudi Arabia could fail to make significant strides if all parties do not support and embrace change, which also requires switching from traditional media forms that are highly regulated by the government to social media which is user generated and user managed.
Arafa and Armstrong (2015) notes that new media, which includes social media among other digital and online technologies, enabled Arab women to advance their activism and participate in the ensuing uprisings without being perceived to contravene any social codes of their societies. Examples like Esraa Abdel Fatel, the “Facebook girl” from Egypt, Lina Ben Mhanni, the blogger from Tunisia inspired women in Saudi Arabia. Thorsen and Sreedharan (2019) note that #IamMyOwnGuardian, #EndMaleGuardianship and #Women2Drive were successful online campaigns initiated by women cyberactivists in Saudi Arabia and caused the Saudi government to change its mahram policy of the male guardianship system and the denial of women’s right to drive. Eventually, the rise in human rights discourse, which actively seeks to reform the women’s situation in diverse developing countries, is gaining momentum rapidly, although the participants are limited by the features they are given by social media. This is the link social media-mediated activism can create by downplaying the physical location of the activist as an element in the interaction, so that universal policies can be advocated for all (Ray, 2018). Meanwhile, many of these activists are living under very strict regimes, meaning the idea of shaping the discourse on social media into a movement on ground is far from becoming a reality, since such regimes persecute protestors and suppress public protest or civil disobedience. This results in such activists being limited to particular practices in their effort to change.
3.6 Social Media as a Tool for Normative Change
Social norms are based on social paradigms which were created and enforced by people who existed ages ago. In Arabic culture, most of these norms are based on Islamic teachings and Arabic traditions (Wekke, 2015). However, with the dynamics of a contemporary society, changes have become inevitable, in the context of strong cultural bonds. While part of the society has adopted a liberal approach to issues, there are reactionaries that will always advocate for strong adherence to traditions (Driver, 2013).
Social media has become a tool of bridging the discourses between liberals and conservatives on social issues. Generally, both factions are often intolerant of each other’s notions which are ideologically opposite (Brandt et al., 2014). These two political and social groups have always positioned themselves in antagonistically. With a sharp divide between the liberals and conservatives, the former have to work harder to dislodge these deep-rooted beliefs. One of the major social issues in which these two groups have encountered several conflicts is the position of women in the Saudi Arabian community. While conservatives still hold to the notion that women should be supervised as citizens with no equal consideration as men, liberals take a considerably better stance with regard to gender equality (van Geel, 2016). With the emergence of social media, the two have now found a platform from which both sides can bring forth their ideas without restriction or discrimination (Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan, 2013). Social media has provided the tool and platform to advocate for normative change (Müller, 2015). One way in which liberals and activists have affected this change is by fighting for deliberative democracy. Rishel (2011) undertook an empirical study to explore the effect of social media in achieving optimum citizen engagement for achieving effective normative change. The researcher concluded that “social media has the capacity to fundamentally shift the normative dimensions of deliberative democracy” and facilitate the replacement of archaic cultural practices with those relevant to the contemporary society (p. 411). Thus, the people of Saudi Arabia are now capable of demanding these changes without the fear of censorship and control that is characteristic of traditional media.
Because of social media, the debate on gender equality and women’s rights is no longer only a conceptual issue but an active one, which considers the real-life experiences of the victims of gender violence (Dantoin, 2018). By bridging the gaps in this discourse, social media has created a platform on which the context of gender can be discussed and a possible social change can be achieved, especially in countries with discriminative gender laws such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Newsom and Lengel, 2012). The effects of social media on processes of activism call for increased evaluation of how the various platforms could transform current and future practices with regard to advocating for individual and group rights.
Currently, the Arab world is undergoing a drastic cultural transformation. This change can be attributed to open communication which has grown among citizens as well as between the government and people. Through social participation, increased engagement has been achieved on social issues and several debates on cultural norms considered retrogressive (Rotman et al., 2011). With the growth of social media, media and information dissemination have been impacted, especially in less democratic regimes. As Mabweazara (2014) puts it, “the interactivity and ‘viral connections’ engendered by social media have facilitated a rise in User Generated Content (UGC), which has impacted upon the broader ecology of the news media as well as challenged the traditional cultures and norms” (p. 75). However, such endeavours are even more complex in countries with strong cultural ties such as Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Müller (2015) undertook a similar study but in the context of Malaysia – another country with strong Islamic ties. Using the case of the Islamic party of Malaysia (PAS), he found that the party has become more flexible, accommodating modern popular culture. Through social media activism and communication, PAS has changed dramatically, going from a group of conservative zealots who aimed to prevent any normative change to one that has now given room for cultural change (Müller, 2015). If social media could be this effective in Malaysia, its impact on the Saudi Arabian culture cannot be gainsaid.
Social media has been and can still be used to correct the culture of rape and the laws pertaining to the treatment of the victim and the culprit. In 2007, a case of a 19-year-old woman who was raped and sentenced to jail for the same hit the international media. The woman was raped and took the matter to court. In a number of Arab nations, the courts are guided by Sharia law. However, in several cases, rape is considered as tazir – a crime whose punishment is not stipulated in the Quran or Sunna (Tonnessen, 2016). Thus, the resulting judicial precedence is guided by a discriminative tendency towards women, which leads victims of rape to be punished while the culprits do not receive the appropriate punishment (Haddad, 2017). In his judgment, the judge sentenced the raped woman to a 6-month imprisonment with 200 lashings, citing the violation of gender segregation law which forbids women to associate with men who they are not related to (Harrison, 2007). The Saudi Arabian judicial system has given more emphasis on sex segregation with a greater interest in punishing gender mixing as opposed to sexual assault. Thus, the verdict for cases of rape are often left in the hand of the judges – with no codified penal codes – who are often keen to punish both the rapist and the victim for violating the Sharia law of not associating with people from the other sex that they are not related to (Tonnessen, 2016). In several Arab countries, when the rapist could legally marry the rape victim, the charge was considered null and void with no one receiving any punishment (Haddad, 2017). Even with these discriminative laws, the mainstream media still gives extremely little emphasis on presenting the true picture of sexual violence and women’s oppression in the country.
While traditional media censures violence and oppression that Arab women face, social media has provided an alternative through which these painful stories can be heard. Halim and Meyers (2010) examines the rate of traditional media coverage of violence and sexual assault among women and its implications. The scholars established that major censorship is imposed on broadcasting news of this kind, and this results in insufficient public awareness regarding these vices. Furthermore, the coverage often blatantly ignores the systemic nature of this oppressions and its association with the patriarchal society and ideology of male supremacy prevalent in the region (Halim and Meyers, 2010). However, social media has provided a convenient alternative with an uncensored space where victims and concerned individuals can have an effective conversation on these matters. According to Rentschler (2014), social media has been pivotal in fighting the culture of rape and gender-based violence by building a successful feminist network and providing a platform for online criticism and activism. Through social media, different generations of feminists can come together and collaborate to create a more conducive environment which allows female inclusion. Through social media-organised movements and communities like #MeToo and #BeenRapedNeverReported, feminists are using participatory digital media as activist tools to speak, network, and organise against sexism, misogyny, and rape culture (Mendes, Ringrose and Keller 2019). Social media has led to in normative shifts by encouraging debates that target the misogynistic culture and push for gender equality.
3.7 The Current Evidence of Social Media Affordances
Affordances of Socio-political Movements
Before the rise of social media, the possibilities for social movements and political dissidence in Saudi Arabia intended to gain momentum were very slim due to the lack of access to various public platforms (Alkhedr, 2011). Any efforts in this direction were thwarted by the government’s repressive policies. This trend has not altered much, but what has changed is people’s resilience. While the previous movements were easily disrupted by the government, the current ones tend to continue in the face of official intimidation (Davis, 2015). According to Davis (2015), the major political dynamics that the country has experienced in the last couple of years have been largely attributed to the spread and intensified use of social media. Social media have played a primary role in deepening civil society and creating politically liberalised reforms for effective and positive socio-political movements. A country like Saudi Arabia does not encourage self-determination, but social media has broadened the state-society dialogues which have engendered the process of widening the political space (Davis, 2015). Since 2010, the Arab world has experienced waves of political movements, an indication that there has been a major growth in the political awareness at the grassroots levels, which has prompted movements for inclusiveness in political systems (Lynch, 2012). By using social media tools as a way of information dissemination, the country has undergone a pluralisation of political ideas and opinions; enhancement in the political expectations of the public; and the development of a collective political space for the people of Saudi Arabia (Lynch, 2012). As Davis (2015) narrates, social media has transformed the Saudi Arabian political system by “increasing the plurality of voices, enhancing popular interaction, and facilitating “political and civic engagement” (p. 2). Through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, political persecutions, acts of human oppression, protest techniques, and martyr narratives can go viral, leading to more people developing the need for political participation. Thus, the changes evident in contemporary Saudi political systems are mainly attributed to the disruptive nature of social media.
Several scholars (Rane and Salem 2012; Wolfsfeld, Segev and Sheafer, 2013; Markham, 2014) have attributed the success of the recent waves of socio-political movements to the disruptive nature of social media. Most of them argue that the earlier attempts did not become successful because it was more difficult to bring people together and get them to collaborate. However, with social media tools, it has become easier to organise and manage such protests as one can easily tweet or share the information via social media tools. As such, “the use of social media in the Arab uprisings has significant implications for diffusion theory in terms of contact and identity among the social movements involved” (Rane and Salem 2012, p. 97). As opposed to the failed movements of the past, the “Twitter and Facebook Revolutions” have proved to be more successful in the Arab world. The toppling of several long-standing regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, have forced countries such as Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Bahrain to make major socio-political reforms and concessions. For example, Syria and Bahrain have been forced – through peaceful protest – to formulate legislative provisions addressing the lethal force that has been used in these countries (Rane and Salem, 2012). For this reason, it is imperative to contend that the power of social media is yet to make some major social and political transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Affordances on Women and Gender Equality
While several feminist activist movements have faced major suppression from the government, there also have been major breakthroughs in the fight for gender equality in Saudi Arabia. It is important to underscore the fact that there are numerous feminists and women rights activists who are still behind bars, charged with “terrorism” (Al-Shehri, and N. 2019). However, the force which has been magnified by social media has become more prominent. Currently, Saudi Arabia is enacting various legislations and policy changes to expand the rights of women in the country. For example, Saudi women were never allowed to travel without the consent of their husbands or male guardians. In a bid to loosen this demeaning restriction on women, the Kingdom has made a provision that women aged 21 and above can travel without the consent or permission of their male guardians (Pepper, 2019). With pressure from the public and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to modernise the country, several drastic steps have been taken, some of which even contravene fundamental principles of the Islamists. According to Pepper (2019), bin Salman’s actions are not only due to his endeavour to modernise Saudi culture, but are also a response to the pressure he has received from several global factions regarding the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Other important reforms that the country has witnessed include allowing women to drive and increasing the number of women in Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers (Abumaria, 2019). Thus, the rise and emergence of the dynamics of social media have informed major milestones in the fight against gender inequality in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia get the chance to share their tribulations on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp and discuss some of the social and legal aspects that need to change to become more independent and respected in society. Social media give women the opportunity to expand their affairs in the country because they get adequate time to discuss how patriarchal society and regulations impact their progress and denies them their fundamental human rights (Bergstrom and Belfrage, 2018). Moreover, many women authors and activists consider social media avenues as appropriate places to post their publications and interact with people about their issues (Odine, 2013). The use of social media to promote the discourse on women empowerment earned three Saudi Arabian women awards in 2011: The Nobel Peace Prize Committee rewarded them for their non-struggle approach to advocate for safety of women and full participation in peace-building initiatives (Odine, 2013).
Social media networks have become very critical in the organisation and disposition of women’s rights’ social movements. Over the last decade, there has been a tremendous shift in feminist movements in the Arab world. Khamis (2011 p. 748) states that “the prolific online and offline political activities of Arab women over the last several months have contributed a new chapter to the history of both Arab feminism in the region”. A study by Schuster (2013) points out that more young women have become active in feminist endeavours. Thus, a bigger percentage of women can now come forward and discuss issues that affect their level of social inclusion within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Initially, the common movements in the region were more political and religious. Political protests were primarily instigated by what Islamists considered a violation of Islamic laws. However, as the world has become more connected, especially through social media, other forms of social movements have intensified. The success of the Arab Spring and the effective use of social media during the period facilitated the creation and revitalisation of feminists’ movements in the region (Al-Rawi, 2014). In other words, it is the success of social media in other forms of a social movement which ignited the rise of feminist activism in the region. Though many of these activists are still behind bars, the country has been seeing the dawn of new progressive policies regarding women and gender rights. Through social media, both men and women can now come together and demand changes. “These online movements, which were organised by Arab women who challenged moral codes, stereotypes, and old customs, are never confined to specific countries as they seem to unite several Arab women and men from different states, forming collective identity and character” (Al-Rawi 2014, p. 1147). Hence, it is logical to attribute the major gender-based milestones that Saudi Arabia has achieved in the recent past to the growth of social media in the country. While social media has provided a platform for engaging in social and political issues regarding gender and human rights, it is important to mention some areas in which this technology has facilitated the betterment of society.
1.1 Saudi Arabia Biggest Journey for Reform: 2030 Vision
The Saudi Vision 2030 is a framework to lower Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil, expand the economy, and improve various service sectors such as tourism, infrastructure, recreation, education, and health. The primary objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 are to boost investment and economic practices, strengthen non-oil sector trade between nations through consumer and good products (Moshashai, Leber and Savage 2018). Many believe that proper implementation of Saudi Vision 2030 will have a significant impact on KSA’s development and people’s welfare (Vision 2030). The government has demonstrated the desire to achieve the provisions of this Vision since its introduction in 2016 by the Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman (Moshashai, Leber and Savage 2018). The plan outlines the country’s long-term expectations and goals, is based upon the country’s unique capabilities and strengths, and guides the nation’s aspirations towards a new era of development towards a vibrant society in which every citizen can realize their ambitions, hopes, and dreams and attain prosperity in a flourishing economy (Kinninmont 2017). Many Saudi citizens hope to benefit from the implementation of the Vision, but this may only happen if people get the chance to contribute in the most effective manner, without any impediments.
One of the most important aspects of Saudi Vision 2030 is its call for the formation of a vibrant society in which people interact collectively and have better opportunities to gain prosperity. The Vision hopes to form a society that manages a quality of life program that improves life for everyone (Vision 2030). It also aims to create an effective housing program which would give everyone the chance to live a decent life (Moshashai, Leber and Savage 2018). The vibrant society which the Vision hopes to create is one that aspires to create a fiscal balance program in which public investment programs are strong and people can venture into both the private and public sectors (Vision 2030). It will boost strategic partnership programs as well as human capital development initiatives that could enrich the lives of Saudi citizens.
The government understands that an effective way to achieve the goals and objectives of the Vision 2030 is to embrace technology that would facilitate operations in various areas. Other than mechanical technology required to run and improve activities in various industries, employing social media may accelerate the efforts to achieve the objectives (Vision 2030). Social media which emerged as a result of technological development can allow businesses to perform their functions more efficiently and will improve people’s interactions. Furthermore, improving the use of social media and removing the elements that obstruct its use may create better chances of attaining a vibrant society where everyone contributes to the well-being of the country through their opinions and suggestions (Surf and Mostafa 2016). It has emerged that public awareness regarding ways to achieve sustainable practices as outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030, especially with regard to attain better health and environmentally sound and affordable projects, remain a major challenge (Surf and Mostafa 2016). Allowing people to explore social media, however, may help overcome such hindrances because it can allow a wide outreach.
The Saudi Vision 2030 should help form a society in which people express their opinions regarding political issues freely. So far, Saudi Arabia has indulged in political practices that have garnered considerable criticism by citizens on social media. The harsh reaction to the government’s actions following the death of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi within Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul shows that the country is heading in a direction in which there’s no tolerance for irresponsible acts not based on solid evidence and support (Human Rights Watch, 2020). The criticism the government faced from large majorities who expressed their views through social media was partly what led the state to admit to the journalist’s murder, make arrests, and fire senior personnel. People also took to social media to react to the report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Kingdom had committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. Many social media users in particular reacted to the issue that about 6500 people had lost their lives by August 2015 and tens of thousands had been wounded (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Many further expressed their disappointment in the way the Joint Incidents Assessment Team handled its conflict with Yemen and criticised the government for being too harsh, particularly in its deployment of air strikes. The increased participation of members of the public through social media avenues suggest that the technological growth is influencing societal practices in a way that could shape how leaders make decisions (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Restraining how people use social media, however, could derail the attempts to create a vibrant society where people participate in creating policies that define how the country functions. Failing to permit members of the public to contribute towards the political affairs may not only affect their social, political, and economic well-being but also undermine efforts to realize the Saudi Vision which the country desperately needs to attain.
Even as the Saudi Vision 2030 continues to elicit varying reactions, it is apparent that the fundamental role of technology in achieving the goals and objectives cannot be prevented in the form of social media use, which is fast picking pace. Encouraging the use of social media will facilitate awareness and implementation of the economic blueprint that can transform the whole of Saudi Arabia (Nuruzzaman 2018). The best way to prepare for Vision 2030 would be to improve the infrastructure that supports social media use, such as expanding Internet connectivity, and lowering taxes on electronic devices such as routers, smartphones, receivers, laptops, and modems to allow the maximum number of people to access social media to communicate in a more effective, affordable manner, that contributes to the realization of the social, economic, and political aspirations outlined in Vision 2030.
3.8 Summary
This chapter focused on the role of social media in instigating socio-political change in less democratic states as Saudi Arabia. Within the Saudi Arabian context, social media is not just a tool for social interactions but also a platform for political engagement and discussions among the people. Moreover, social media posts help expose the weak ties that exist among citizens and help in augment the user’s likelihood to become aware about impending political actions. Even though the country has made major leaps to rectify most of its rights policies, the existing violations continue to inspire protests and activism. Amidst such strict laws and enclosed social structure, social media has provided a platform where people can successfully instigate social resistance and protest against oppressive political powers. Restraining how people use social media, however, could derail the attempts to create a vibrant society, where people participate in creating policies that define how the country functions. Failing to permit members of the public to contribute towards the political affairs may not only affect their social, political, and economic well-being, but also undermine efforts to realise the modernisation which the country desperately needs to attain.
While most Saudis use social media as a platform to obtain and share information on issues regarding the political status of the country, many women have shown interest in using it as a tool for cyberactivism to encourage social reform, which can create further social change. The growth in social media usage has created an avenue for women to discuss and share sensitive socio-political issues which might be censured in mainstream media. Feminist scholars can now plan for meetings and seminars with the lifting of the ban against driving by women, creating opportunities to come together as women and form discourses that can boost the welfare of Saudi women.
4 Chapter 4: Methodology
4.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to describe the research methodology followed in this project, the data collection method and the theories applied to explore the proposed phenomenon. The research project sought to analyse women’s situation in Saudi Arabia as a case study, who, from one perspective, are reshaping the social and political landscape in Saudi Arabia via social media, especially Twitter, the main platform discussed in this research. Two main factors affected this decision: first, Twitter is the most widely used social network platform among people who share common ideologies, which affects the extent of engagement in this discourse on the platform, without overlooking the fact that there is barely any representation for such discourses in mainstream media. Saudis signify 40% of twitter accounts in the Middle East and North Africa region (Go-gulf, 2016). The second factor is the rapid rise in government participation, especially on Twitter, which has resulted in the platform becoming the first source for many Saudis to acquire official updates. The number of active Saudi accounts in Twitter is the highest in the country’s online population (Helmi, Faris and Kelly, 2015).
This chapter demonstrates the approach of this research. The practice theory was used because it allows understanding the environmental factors and restrictions that hinder the advancement of a feminine discourse in Saudi Arabia, since the practice theory involves aspects relating to inequalities, power, knowledge, and identity. It also describes the methods used and the research design for the proposed approach for collecting data, the aspects of data collection, the methods of analysis employed to meet research goals, as well as the tools used to ensure the validity and reliability of the research and collected data.
4.2 Research Aim, Objectives and Questions
This research aimed to examine aspects of Saudis’ usage of social media by studying the female empowerment discourse on social media, the participants’ motivation, and the aims for reform, as well as the official adoption of these platforms, aspects of intervention, practices of responses, and ways of interaction. Therefore, the research objectives are the follows:
- To perceive the nature of relationship between social media users’ in Saudi Arabia;
- To observe the influence of social media on empowerment programs for Saudi women;
- To explore the Saudi government methods of engagement in activities related to women’s rights on social media;
- To examine whether social media has facilitated women’s rights campaigns in Saudi Arabia;
Considering the case study, this thesis examines the following research question and sub-questions to find results after collecting the needed data and conducting the planned interviews:
What is the role of social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia?
Sub-questions
- How do women’s rights activists engage with social media in Saudi Arabia?
- How do Saudi government officials engage with social media in relation to women’s rights issues?
4.3 The Research Approach
The choice of a research approach is guided by the research objectives and questions, research philosophy, existing knowledge, and availability of resources and skills (Opoku, Ahmed, and Akotia, 2016). The paradigm of a study is a critical factor in determining the research approach (Opoku et al., 2016). The research approach is applied during two stages of a study, the collection process and the subsequent data analysis (Creswell, 2013). This research applied a one-method approach, but with the benefit of diverse Twitter data to help further usages of qualitative approach: interviews method for data collection and inductive and deductive approaches for data analysis (Gray, 2013; Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Saunders, et al., 2009). While quantitative methods allow the researcher to understand a phenomenon from a scientific perspective using statistical and scientific models, a qualitative approach is primarily exploratory in nature, offering insights into the problem by uncovering the underlying opinions, attitudes, and motivations (Castellan, 2010; Creswell, 2013; Muijs, 2010; Rao and Woolcock, 2003). This research employed a qualitative approach, as it aims to determine the influence of social media on women’s situation in Saudi Arabia by analysing narrative information on Twitter and obtaining feedback in narrative form the research participants. The primary objective of the study is to establish the impact of social media in the advocacy of women’s rights and women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Both empowerment and advocacy are qualitative terms that necessitate a qualitative research approach. Furthermore, some qualitative impacts of social media include representation, knowledge of rights, and sensitisation—all within a society that strictly upholds gender segregation in many aspects of life from an early age. Therefore, employing a qualitative approach was the most appropriate way to tackle the issue, through the use of interviews and short amount of collocation for Twitter data, which includes asking major questions and analysing the way such discourses attract and further interaction. This method enabled me to obtain adequate findings, which helped justify the phenomenon and achieve the research’s goals. On the basis of the study of practical influences, the practice approach helps in understanding the connection between cultures, practices, and knowledge for humans. Some notable influences under the practice approach include inequalities, power, knowledge, and identity. Therefore, the practice approach is selected for this research. The rationale for its selection is provided below.
The Practice Theory
The advent of technology has resulted in the uptake of digital activism through avenues such as social media. Through the platforms, the users are in a position to push different agendas. The field of political science has focused on research in relation to social movements (Valenzuela, 2013). The role of communication, as well as communicative practices, is considered in relation to the development of collective identities and multiple protest movements. Additionally, it considers the development and sustainability as well as the spread of contentious politics (Cammaerts, 2015). The discussion will focus on the benefits of the theory of the practice as a methodological approach for digital activism in social network sites.
The practices theory focuses on the definition of social movement as a process where collective actors are allowed an opportunity to voice grievances, articulate their interests, and proposing solutions to various problems. The practices theory shows that the social movements will have identifying features such as being conflictual and identified opponents (Glenn, 2015). Additionally, they are formed through well-developed informal networks and are geared towards establishing collective identities (Rotman et al., 2011). The emergence of social media as part of the networked digital technologies has resulted in bringing together multiple channels of communication which takes into account social media.
The theory states that the uptake of various internet services has continued to encourage scholarly debates that are polarized. The new notion tends to have an effect on the normative consequences tied to social media. The new platforms are playing a role in bringing together social movements as well as mobilizing on the global arena (Miller, 2017). The themes identified in relation to digital activism include the roles as well as functions of social media, opportunities and structural constraints, various types of communicative practices, online platforms as fields of contentious discourse, types of usage, and networks, ties and relational.
Communicative practices play a critical role in organizing, supporting, and coordinating social change. Through the platforms, people are in a position to share various ideas, and they influence change in different areas (Lim, 2013). Studies on communicative practices dwell on how communication as well as media tools continue to be used by activists to help meet symbolic and material goals. The practices provide an avenue for social media users to deal with systemic structural constraints (Gerbaudo, 2014). The practices theory focuses on how communication and media tools are included in everyday lives as well as how they are brought together with mediated and non-mediated mechanisms in society.
Research has been conducted on networked technologies to help bring forward the intersection between technological possibility, social context, and purpose. Technological advancements have assisted in ensuring the platforms are in a position to aid in delivering messages that influence the social construct (Velasquez and LaRose, 2015). Social media activism plays a critical role in influencing in internal and external roles. The inward roles focus on aspects such as organizational coordination. Social media activism ensures that organizations are in a position to focus on internal debate and decision making. Additionally, the creation of alternative forms of communication results in a vibrant public sphere (Uldam, 2018). Social media activism has been used to achieve various results, including mobilizing and coordinating, to help achieve direct action. Additionally, it can be used to attack ideological enemies. Social media activism plays a critical role in society as it ensures messages can be passed using various platforms and can influence social change. The practices theory has been applied to explaining the inclusion of social media activism.
Qualitative Method
The study of human-related concepts involves subjective and complex processes that depend heavily on non-numerical information (Opoku et al., 2016). Therefore, qualitative research methods are most suitable for this study. Qualitative research enabled the researcher to collect non-quantifiable data related to social factors, for instance, women empowerment. It also allowed me to deal with complex and multifactorial data that cannot be solved by conventional statistical methods (Gummesson, 2006). Furthermore, a qualitative approach was preferable for this study due to its ability to uncover themes and accuracy in describing complex unquantifiable situations or cultures (Rubin and Rubin, 2011).
The use of qualitative methods helped me capture perceptions and beliefs regarding the influence of women empowerment discourse on Twitter (Babu, 2008) and facilitated the explanations and interpretations to identify changes in society. In this research, the progress witnessed in the empowerment of Saudi women along with the use of social media as a communicative platform can be understood by gaining insight into the perceptions concerning the impact of social media. The primary benefit of using a qualitative approach is that it can generate rich and thorough data, offering a deeper understanding of a phenomenon (Opoku et al., 2016). Therefore, using a qualitative approach helped explain the participants’ perception of how the women’s empowerment discourse on Twitter and the government’s role and the activists’actions are affecting the social and political contexts in the country.
While different methods are employed to collect qualitative data, interviews, observation, focus group discussions, document or narrative analysis, and the researcher’s impressions concerning the phenomenon under study are among the most common (Babu, 2008). This research used interviews and an extensive observation for Twitter accounts to analyse the phenomenon. The interview method was chosen as it allowed me to explore the participants’ responses in sufficient depth (King and Horrocks, 2010). Moreover, interviews can be designed to collect information about knowledge, behaviour, perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and feelings (King and Horrocks, 2010). Since this research sought to explore perceptions regarding how the women’s empowerment discourse on Twitter in Saudi Arabia, and how the government’s role and the activists’ actions affect the social and political contexts, interviewing was the most suitable approach.
Using interviews to collect information on participants’ perspectives allowed me to explore them adequately since intensive individual interviews allow the researcher to clarify or expand on certain responses (Partington, 2001). This is advantageous as it enables the collection of detailed information regarding the research topic. Furthermore, interviews present several advantages over other methods of data collection. For example, they often allow high response rates as the interviewer approaches prospective respondents directly (Galinsky et al., 2019, p. 1385). They also allow me to “collect information on subjective aspects such as opinions, perspectives, and personal feelings, with the interviewer observe non-verbal cues such as body language and gestures and detect any incidents of bias during data collection” (Kratcoski, 2017, p. 192). The likelihood of misinformation during an interview is significantly low because they give room for clarification, permitting a high degree of flexibility. For instance, I can use several avenues to conduct interviews face to face or over the telephone (Fowler et al., 2019, p. 701–703). The high level of flexibility creates a wide reach for the respondents.
The interview method can follow three approaches: structured, open or non-structured, and semi-structured. A structured interview has a set of programmed direct questions that require mostly “yes” or “no” responses. Therefore, the interviewer and interviewees have little scope for discussion and free communication (Berg, 2007). Consequently, this type of interview resembles the “self-administered” quantitative questionnaire in both its form and basic assumptions. In contrast to the structured interview, in the open-ended or unstructured interview, the interviewing is an open situation giving both sides (greater flexibility and liberty in terms of developing, implementing, and organising the interview content and questions (Gubrium and Holstein, 2012). Thus, the interviewer here would be more “keen to follow up interesting developments and to let the interviewee elaborate on various issues” (Dörnyei, 2007, p.136). Unstructured and semi-structured interviews allow researchers to carry out further explorations (King and Horrocks, 2010). While unstructured interviews allow exploration of responses, the responses tend to be difficult to compare due to differences in formulation of questions (King and Horrocks, 2010). Moreover, unstructured interviews can lead to deviation from the main point, as they lack clearly set boundaries (King and Horrocks, 2010). Conversely, structured interviews restrict the exploration of responses due to their fixed format: the questions in structured interviews allow a limited range of responses, thus denying the researcher the ability to uncover underlying factors (King and Horrocks, 2010). For these reasons, this research used semi-structured interviews.
However, while interviews can provide researchers with a unique insight into how participants learn and encounter the situation under exploration, it should be kept in mind that the information obtained by interviews is unconventional and often biased, therefore, may not be considered as a reliable account of objective circumstances (Berg, 2011; Creswell and Poth, 2017). Though, in this research, I think that these biased perceptions’ are essential to thoroughly understand the participants’ experiences of social media in terms of socio-political participation and activism, especially since both sets of the group are greatly dependent on social media networks and influenced by the cultural, political, and the on-going in changes in the regional contexts.
Semi-structured Interview
Semi-structured interviews contain components of both structured and unstructured interviews. This format is interview is preferred as it contains a set of questions that act as a guide for the interview to ensure the desired information is obtained (King and Horrocks, 2010). Semi-structured interviews present the same questions to the participants but also allow the researcher to ask additional questions for further clarification (King and Horrocks ,2010). Since perspectives differ and affect how people interpret things, there is need for additional questions to clarify the responses and determine if the underlying factors or themes are similar. This method was used because it allowed me to follow topical trajectories in the interview and also stray from the structure when necessary. The participants were also able to express their views using their own terms. The freedom to express views ensured sensitive issues could also be discussed by participants (King and Horrocks, 2010). The structured part of the semi-structured interview provided a guide that enabled the interviewer to obtain comparable data (King and Horrocks, 2010).
In addition to the possibility of obtaining detailed responses, other advantages of using semi-structured interviews include the benefits of obtaining primary data that has not been interpreted by another researcher. Second, interviews give me direct control over the flow of the process so as to explore certain issues if required (King and Horrocks, 2010). Probing is another advantage of semi-structured interviews. Probing means asking respondents follow-up questions to help them expand, focus, or explain their answers (Berg, 2007). Therefore, by adopting the semi-structured interview method, I can explore participants’ hidden perceptions and attitudes about the subject being analysed by probing their responses for reasons and more explanations. During the interviews, the participants should be able to provide their input in the discourse and elaborate on their involvement. In this case, my role was to ensure the interviewees provide relevant and comprehensive answers. Furthermore, I encouraged the respondents to provide full disclosure about events by assuring them that their identity will remain anonymous, thus creating a safe environment around the interview. However, interviews can be disadvantageous as they require a greater time investment, which can lead to difficulties arranging suitable time with the sample to conduct the interviews. Furthermore, interviews present a risk of bias (King and Horrocks, 2010).
Additionally, the semi-structured interview is a more flexible version of the structured interview, as it “allows depth to be achieved by providing the opportunity on the part of the interviewer to probe and expand the interviewee’s responses” (Partington, 2001, p.35). Such interviews allow an in-depth investigation, enabling the interviewer to maintain control over the interview while retaining the ability to direct the kind of subjects discussed language used. However, during the course of the interview, it is the interviewer’s responsibility to conduct the talk in the manner and to use the language he/she feels most suitable, to provide an explanation if anything is not clear, and to prompt the respondent to clarify further if necessary. A reflexive interview approach was utilised.
Reflexivity refers to the process of examining the researcher’s role and the researcher’s relationship in influencing the research (Pessoa, et al., 2019). Reflexivity implies considering the effect of the researcher in the context of knowledge construction (Pessoa, et al., 2019). It is essential for this research, as it is common to realise during the interview process that some important issues were overlooked. During interviews, certain content evoked by the participants can go unrecognised even if they are connected to the research questions, while some ideas may seem confusing or contradictory. This approach enables me to have a more accurate understanding of the topics that could emerge during the interview (Pessoa, et al., 2019). A reflexive interview engages the interviewer and interviewee in the process of elaboration of the interviewees’ perspective and experience (Pessoa, et al., 2019). In this study, the use of a semi-structured questionnaire provided the interviewees the opportunity to elaborate on their perceptions. In the reflexive approach, rather than responding descriptively, the participants, with the support of the researcher, are encouraged to share the meaning behind their responses, so that they are not interpreted arbitrarily by the researcher (Pessoa, et al., 2019). This approach allowed the interviewees to validate the ideas that emerged to help the researcher truly understand them. This approach, therefore, helps minimise interpretation errors.
To foster reflexivity, I recorded the interviews and thoroughly examined the transcripts to ensure that the participants’ ideas were not misinterpreted or misunderstood. Second, the involvement of another trustworthy individual in analysing the responses provided a divergent and complementary understanding, in addition to an opportunity for the researcher’s hidden assumptions and perspectives to be challenged (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Moreover, researchers can also foster reflexivity by developing a reflexive journal. In the reflexive journal, the researcher’s reflections are recorded in relation to what is happening and their personal values or interests. Methodological decisions and logistics of the study and the reasons for using them were recorded in my reflexive journal (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Alternatively, the researcher can report research perspectives, values, belief, and positions in manuscripts (Malterud, 2001), reporting how one’s preconceptions, values, and assumptions might have influenced the research process.
4.4 Research Strategy
Considering that a semi-structured approach for interviews has been adopted in this stage of data collection. I developed two interview forms with two sets of questions. The first one contained 10 questions for government officials’ interviews while the second one contained 13 questions for the activists’ interviews. The questions addressed to the government officials focused on their engagement with the women empowerment decision-making process and their role in encouraging higher levels of women participation; their level of endorsement for any women’s related issues currently or during their time of involvement with the decision-making process in the government; their understanding of the newly presented programs concerning women empowerment; and the current role of social network sites in Saudi Arabia in enhancing the development of new discourses that are significantly focusing on the women situation and their respond to discourses related to women’s rights on social networks. The questions addressed to activists involved obtaining their opinions about the current situation women are experiencing in the country; the type of activities they are engaging with others through their Twitter accounts; the influence of social media networks on women; and the impact of the current situation of women in the country and the impact of having a popular platform, which could form quick interaction to reflect on the situation immediately. Besides, three common questions were asked to both sets of interviewees about their reaction to the recent changes in several regulations for example, eliminating the guardianship role in influencing many vital decisions in women’s lives and allowing them to drive after years of prohibition; their views about the recently presented program from the government for reform, and whether the 2030 Vision could significantly improve the social and political status of women in Saudi Arabia.
Among the different methods to analyse such a case, I chose interviews and built on the concept of narrative analysis to collect number of related tweets, which seem as the most appropriate ways of collecting data. By conducting interviews, I was able to build on the credibility of this research. Adding the experiences of interviewees significantly benefitted my results. The diverse backgrounds of the interviewees concerned their type of engagement, level of influence, and whom they represent. Similarly, each single story in this discourse was created alone, but is significantly regarded as a part of the original narrative of this movement. The cases which have been presented by activists are related to the issue of women’s rights; this kind of participation is giving a new meaning to the discourse on Twitter, adding a new dimension, and importantly, affecting the culture of protesting through events, by finding solutions that start a dialogue on Twitter which is then taken to the ground.
Digital story telling challenges the boundaries of textual, cultural, and literary systems, as a plot in a digital narrative is neither a static conception nor a compelling representation of a place in time, but rather depends on a collection of textual and intertextual traces that surrender to dynamic digital timelines (Chan, 2019). In Twitter, comments, personal stories, and news are all merged into an echo of digital stories that share the same experience, but report it from different perspectives through multiple stories. Key words in analysing this discourse enabled me to gain a sense of the organisation of its narrative on Twitter and subsequently allowed me the space to find a connected series of events, which could contribute largely to the findings. It also helped me break down the governmental aspect of this discourse and identify the reasons behind their approach to influence social media discourses.
4.5 Study Setting
The population of this research included a total of 31 interviewees of whom 20 females and 11 males. I selected two groups of participants: activists and government officials. Activists group consists of 13 females and 5 males, while the government officials group consists of 6 males and 7 females as shown in the table below. This ratio reflects in the type of responses I have received; a female majority, whether activists or officials, allowed me as a researcher to advance the validity of my findings, since it is expected that as the center of the discourse, they would be more attached with the experiences and the changes they are witnessing in terms of exchanging views in a conservative society, what women are experiencing on the ground and even what they are sensing in terms of change in the manner thoughts are exchanged in a conservative society, which has for a long time marginalised women and prevented them from acquiring higher positions either socially or politically.
Table 1. Research Population
| Role | Gender | Interviewee No. |
| Government official | Male | 1 |
| Government official | Male | 2 |
| Government official | Male | 3 |
| Government official | Male | 4 |
| Government official | Female | 5 |
| Activist | Female | 6 |
| Government official | Male | 7 |
| Government official | Male | 8 |
| Activist | Male | 9 |
| Government official | Female | 10 |
| Activist | Male | 11 |
| Activist | Female | 12 |
| Activist | Female | 13 |
| Government official | Female | 14 |
| Activist | Female | 15 |
| Activist | Female | 16 |
| Activist | Female | 17 |
| Activist | Female | 18 |
| Government official | Female | 19 |
| Government official | Female | 20 |
| Activist | Female | 21 |
| Activist | Female | 22 |
| Activist | Female | 23 |
| Government official | Female | 24 |
| Activist | Female | 25 |
| Activist | Female | 26 |
| Government official | Female | 27 |
| Activist | Male | 28 |
| Activist | Male | 29 |
| Activist | Female | 30 |
| Activist | Male | 31 |
The first group represents advocates of the women empowerment discourse on social media. They were selected through my observation of the type of content that was shared whenever women empowerment-related events occurred, especially on Twitter. They were chosen because they were all active users on Twitter and engaged daily in activities related to women’s issues, during the six months of observation of their accounts on social media. I chose my sample based on diverse reasons: their ability to engage with different social groups in the discussion on women’s issues, the type of rhetoric they used was a significant factor in determining their level of awareness about the developing situation. While the discourse has proven to be popular and attract the attention of numerous users on social media, six months of extensive observation of the type of content shared by these activists demonstrated the necessary diversity requirements for this type of research, either because of their geographical location or age range. The second group that I targeted represents government officials who actively use social media. They came from different backgrounds and represent those who were directly involved, either by being part of the policy making process in the country, such as current and former members of the Shura Council as well as other officials from different entities and organisations directly involved in the process of decision-making in the country; as well as social media users who have played a part in shaping the discourse in the country; and certain public figures who have participated in and contributed largely to the conversations to determine the effect of the women empowerment discourse in social media in reality.
Therefore, in addition to using the interview as the primary research method, I started examining data regarding information that can contribute to my study of the phenomenon related developmental matters (from 2010 to 2014). Given the fact that the campaign for women rights were known to have diverse aspects and have targeted number of areas of which were significant in the perspectives of activists.
Two clips, one from the activist page in Facebook and the other from an interview with Saudi 1st channel on YouTube, two newspapers’ articles and three reports were the materials I have found about the way of which the Kefah Ehraj campaign attracted attention at the initial stages of its development on social media.
Table 2. Secondary Data Materials
| Video Clips | Newspapers | Reports | Total |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
4.6 Data Collocation Procedure
To collect the research data, I first I reached out to Shura Council members through their personal contact numbers, having acquired them from the Protocol department in the Council who gave me a list with their names and personal contact numbers. I assured them that my communication will be for research purposes alone and every member holds the right to decline any sort of participation in the process. Using the networking technique, through my friends and colleagues, I managed to contact officials who are involved in the decision-making process but work outside the parliament. I managed to communicate with a number of them who declared their willingness to participate in the interviews.
Regarding the Shura Council members, I gained advanced knowledge through their activities concerning subjects related to women and their constant presence in the public sphere to comment on issues deeply related to women’s situation. I first reached out to those members and gave them a brief demonstration about my research subject and the phenomenon that I am trying to study and stated the importance of their participation as people highly involved in the process of decision making and their relationship with government make their comments crucial for this research. As soon as I received their approval to be interviewed, I sent out the consent letter with all the clarifications needed to ensure that the interview will aim to answer the research questions and reach the necessary level to qualify to produce satisfactory results. The other group of Shura council members that I wanted to interview were former members of the Shura Council, whose experience could prove significant, since they contributed the historical context to the reforms in the women’s situation and decision-making. The Protocol department in the Shura Council, along with current members, who had already agreed to be interviewed, provided me the contact numbers of former members, and I thus managed to get the approval of a significant number of participants to interview.
As for the, activists group, I contacted them on their Twitter accounts after I identified my sample through daily observation for their accounts. All of them showed great interest in women’s issues and changes that were taking place. I started to direct message users who were willing and stated my intention to interview them about my research project. I gained very promising responses from users, who agreed to be interviewed in this matter; I promptly asked for their e-mail IDs and sent them the consent letter, so that they could gain a complete idea about the way the interview will be conducted, the way data will be stored, and what it will be used for. I received responses from a number of activists about the nature of the interviews and the manner in which they will be conducted.
In the process of data collection, I did interviews with current and previous members of the Shura Council, as well as officials from different government establishments. I previously made the necessary arrangements to meet members either at their place of residence or in public places. I encountered difficulties with some of the current members of the Shura Council, due to the process involved in securing meetings with them in the parliament building. This required the approval of the Presidency of the Council, which would come after they met and looked at the type of research I am doing and the nature of questions I will be asking the targeted members. However, encountering this issue in an earlier stage of my fieldwork allowed me to recover swiftly and immediately reach out to other members who suggested the parliament as a place for meeting, without knowledge about the complicated process involved in conducting an interview in the Shura building, and we rearranged the location. Each of the interviews lasted at least 30 minutes and were conducted face-to-face to help generate the most useful outcomes from the interviewees.
Furthermore, I followed the semi-structured approach with the aim of understanding how the government imposes some kind of control on what is shared, and how activists making efforts to reform the women’s situation are reflected on the ground. The interviews were flexible: while in fact the interviewees in this approach were still having a list of issues that they are trying to address, They are still flexible in term of the order of which topics are considered more significant. (Denscombe, 2010). Additionally, I ensured that most of the topics were addressed by cross-checking the answers during each interview.
Conversely, with the activists, the process of conducting interviews was slightly more difficult, since some of these activists were quite reluctant to meet a stranger in a public place, especially when it came to women, evidently, due to constraints regarding the intermingling of men and women in Saudi society. As soon as I sensed the uneasiness in the women who were involved in the discourse related to women empowerment on social media, I immediately offered them the choice to have a telephonic interview. This is reflected massively in the type of responses I gained from these women activists in their interviews, as this method allowed them a greater margin of privacy, which encouraged them to give more in-depth answers. I managed to meet the male activists face-to-face after I informed them of my preference for this approach, as it would facilitate the research.
Conducting interviews with women in Saudi Arabia on the subject of women empowerment, listening to them talk about the experiences they have in a traditionalist society as well as the level of struggle they have to endure on a daily basis and how small aspects could significantly impact the lives of many women in the country deeply influenced me as a researcher. Listening to women’s description of some of the prevalent discriminative practices and the problems women face in acquiring numerous services first-hand from activists in the women empowerment discourse gave me a deeper understanding of the reality of women in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, documenting the approaches adopted by activists to ensure they attracted a high number of participants on social media proved to be a fascinating realisation and revelation about the desire of numerous women in Saudi Arabia to bring significant change in their lives and even in mindsets.
Significantly, for a man to have the opportunity in a conservative society like Saudi Arabia to interview women about their experiences and efforts to find solutions for an ongoing situation, was an enriching experience in many aspects to me personally, at the humanitarian level, in terms of my general understanding of the situation, as well as my perception of society.
Before starting my fieldwork journey, I reached out to more than 60 individuals who are social media users, either activists in the women empowerment discourse on social media and officials from different entities in the government. I ensured gender diversity in the sample, so that I could gain a wider perception about every group’s reception of this new reality. I also focused on ensuring that the geographical representation of interviewees was well balanced, which would allow me to generalise my findings. I received a total of forty-five positive responses from those who gave their initial approval to participate in the data collection process. Thus, I composed the consent letter as soon as I arrived, for my fieldwork. At the beginning of the fieldwork, I immediately reached out to my sample and sent the consent letter, which stated that their identities will be protected by all means necessary, and their names, residences, works, and social media accounts will not be revealed at any point in this research, and this information will be available for me and my supervisor upon her request and will be used only for research purposes.
Having identified the research questions, the theoretical sampling involved decision-making to collect data from the 31 interviews. The interviews were audio recorded. The audios were then transcribed and translated, with over 40,000 words from the interviews. Coding was then performed. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data before coding. Thematic analysis is the examination of textual responses to identify features that can be descriptively defined (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Themes were identified by examining the participants’ responses to highlight ideas, topics, and patterns that came up frequently. An inductive approach was used, whereby the analysis and coding process were driven by the data collected. While performing the thematic analysis, the researcher followed an iterative and reflexive process containing six steps: familiarization with the data, coding, generation of themes, reviewing themes, defining, and naming themes (Izvercian et al., 2016).
Familiarisation involves interacting with the data over and over to become familiar with the content. I familiarised myself with the responses by listening to the audio and taking note of key points. Reading and re-reading the responses also enabled me to become familiar with the content. Transcribing the audio enabled me to work better with the data. Familiarisation included going through all the data and taking notes to understand the data better. Reading the responses allowed the researcher to start identifying preliminary codes. Familiarisation is followed by generation of codes. The codes are succinct labels that identify important features or ideas in the data that might be relevant to the research (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Developing codes helps with the organisation of data into meaningful groups, as it breaks down complex information to a level that can be linked to broader theoretical problems (Braun and Clarke, 2006). I received 31 responses stating consent to be interviewed. First, I gained the approval of 17 activists who are actively participating in the discourse related to women empowerment on social media, as well as those who experienced diversity in their social backgrounds, which immensely helped the research. Further, I received fourteen positive responses from officials.
4.7 Permission for Data Collection and Ethical Considerations
The data collection process made several ethical considerations to ensure the credibility of the research findings. From an ethical viewpoint, it is essential to obtain informed consent during the data collection process (Hendriks et al., 2019, p. 1509–1511; Biros, 2018, p. 74–76). I explained to the respondents the nature of information that was going to be collected and asked the participants to sign the interview forms or to give verbal consent. Ethical interviews also require voluntary participation by the respondents (Mohesh, Murugappan and Meerasa, 2018, p. 152–154; Denzin and Giardina, 2016, p. 11–13). The interview process was clear about the limits of participation. The respondents were free to leave the interview at any given point. Furthermore, I respected the decisions of some women to reject the interviews. Participants who left the interview halfway were treated respectfully, with no incident of victimisation.
Moreover, the study simply collected information from the respondents without exposing them to harm. The venue of the face-to-face interviews was free from interruptions. Furthermore, the respondents had a say in selecting the time and venue suitable to them for the interview and were ensured a high degree of confidentiality by eliminating personal information (Rudolph, Young and Havens, 2017, p. 107–110; Berendt, 2019, p. 60–64). The information from each respondent was collected independently and stored in an encrypted file. The encryptions reduced the chances of unauthorised access to information. Additionally, the physical documents were stored in a safe, with access to only two people. These measures ensured confidentiality during data collection and analysis.
The structure of the questionnaires also ensured the anonymity of the information to protect the respondents’ identity and prevent potential victimization (Bachmann, Bialski and Hansen, 2017, p. 425; Bouchard, 2016, p. 62–65; Cui et al. 2018 p. 1025–1030). Thus, the questionnaires used during the interviews lacked slots for names, addresses, and the locations of the participants. The absence of these slots reduced the ability to determine the respondents’ identity. The respondents were also provided age bracket as opposed to the requirement for listing their actual age. This contributed to their anonymity. At the end of the data collection process, I bundled the questionnaires together and mixed them. This reduced the probability of tracing a questionnaire to a certain participant. The data analysis process also allowed a limited number of experts to access data. These measures allowed a high level of anonymity. The study therefore fulfilled all the ethical requirements.
Pilot Study
I performed a pilot study before my fieldwork trip, to assess my ability to conduct such studies and determine the extent to which I would be able to research the phenomenon related to the women empowerment discourse in Saudi Arabia. The concept of a pilot study is referred to in two ways in social science research. It can be labelled as feasibility studies which are limited scale versions, or trials, a preparation for a bigger project (Polit and Beck, 2006). The advantages of doing a pilot study are that it can help me add needed cautions during the earlier stages that where the research project could fail, where research procedures may not be followed, or whether proposed methods or instruments are inappropriate (Van Teijlingen and Hundley, 2001). The four primary purposes of the pilot study were to test the feasibility of the research design, recruitment and consent rate, plausibility of the interview questions, and the feasibility of the analysis process (Hassan, Schattner and Mazza, 2006). Each interviewee was provided interview information to allow them to familiarise themselves with the project. The intention was to ensure that the questions are well understood to reduce misinterpretation errors. A brief informal interview preceded the semi-structured interview to offer the participants an explanation of the research, which is essential for developing relevant responses.
I performed a narrative analysis for the discourse related to women empowerment, by examining the government’s decision to allow women to participate in the municipal elections, the revision of the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, as well as the government’s program of women empowerment, in addition to analysing how the discourse on feminism on Twitter played a role in such reforms and how they influenced each situation. Many readers address these recent changes as the most substantial for women in the Gulf country, including the extent to which the discourse affected the daily life of Saudis and created public awareness, and if this discourse found a platform beyond the social network (Mourtada et al., 2011).
By following the shared content on Twitter from January 2015 to May 2015 and analysing the users’ reactions – both activists and officials who constantly participate in the discourse. Splitting the type of interaction into two groups allowed me to generate different perspectives about the women’s situation as well as the local and international press coverage of the rise of women’s engagement in political reality. Moreover, conducting the pilot study largely helped me further understand the growing popularity for feminism among many Saudi women who are users of social media, which enhanced my ability to ask the right questions in my interviews, besides knowing the level of influence such ideology, has on these.
The chance to conduct the pilot study provided me an earlier window to examine the type of interaction users engaged in regarding the 2030 Vision, and what it puts on the table for women. One of the important outputs of the pilot study was that it allows me the opportunity to revisit the historical context of women’s inclusion in executive positions in the government, and the role played by the previous King in encouraging women’s political engagement, through participation in the Shura Council, all of which gave significant in-depth understanding to pose relevant questions to women members of parliament in the data collection process.
4.8 Summary
This chapter displayed the research objectives and questions and explained the research approach. This research used a qualitative approach because of its exploratory nature which sought to establish the impact of social media in the advocacy of women’s rights and women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia. This approach was selected because both empowerment and advocacy are qualitative terms that necessitate a qualitative research approach. The practice theory was employed because it aims to understand entire societies, social fields, and lifestyles. Such understanding helps in eliminating the social and environmental restrictions that deter the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia. In addition, this research used a semi-structured interview for its various advantages: semi-structured interview enables obtaining in-depth responses including information about knowledge, behaviour, perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and feelings; it allows asking additional questions for further clarification; enables control over the interview while retaining the ability to direct the kind of subjects discussed; probing which allows follow-up questions to help the respondents expand, focus, or explain their answers; more flexible and reflexive .
This chapter also described the research population. A total of 31 participants (20 females and 11 males) of activists and government officials were selected after an extensive observation of the type of content that was shared whenever women empowerment-related events occurred on Twitter platform. The majority of the sample was females whether activists or officials, to advance the validity of my findings. The selection of the sample took the geographic distribution of the participants into consideration.
5 Chapter 5: The empirical findings: The Diverse Perceptions of Change in Relation to Women’s Empowerment: Between Plans and Implementation
5.1 Introduction
The Saudi government and society have undergone significant and recognizable transformation that has seen them discard some age-old beliefs that were heavy with conservatisms and embracing new ideas that have neoliberal tenets. In the past few years, the Saudi government has started to engage in a rapid process to redefine the role of women in the conservative society. Consequently, the establishment has begun to present several government programs, which aim to change the nature of the relationship between women and the community, as well as an effort to integrate women in diverse life aspects, and this is all in the attempt to utilise their abilities in light of the urgent need from officials to regenerate a new face for the country, which utterly different from the stereotype about the country in the eyes of many individuals around the world.
However, such official project that appeared in many events as a type of constant government planning for women empowerment is facing different kinds of interaction from activists in the women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, as many users are adopting social media to voice their concerns and question the motives behind the government backing of such subject as well as the level of sincerity to implement such plans on the ground.
5.2 Proposed Programs: The Beneficiaries of Women Empowerment Programs
In societies dominated by many conservative ideas and traditions that accord men a significantly larger margin to operate than women, it is evident that there is a need for a new system based on distinct roles to facilitate greater women participation. In line with this idea, many appeals to redefine the situation of women in Saudi Arabia have begun to gain traction (Mandal, 2013). Consequently, it is expected the position of women in society will be enhanced.
Transforming into a definite stage of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia requires a few essential steps revisiting the reality of such empowerment plans. It also requires defining the aspects within society that need to be addressed in the process, as well as the level of impact it would have. It is also vital to question the tools that would be applied by the official establishment to introduce the perfect plan to empower women. Moreover, transforming into a state that empowers women requires adjustments in the social structure and revision of cultural texts. The result would be a system that offers women the ability to make their own decisions and limit gender inequality. This would also facilitate women’s need to fully know their needs and address their priorities (Abdin, 2008). Consequently, the approach will enhance women empowerment projects in the area.
The first chapter in the analytical framework considered focusing on transformations that occurred for Saudi women on the ground. Nonetheless, this section takes on the government proposed programs concerning women empowerment and analyses the participants’ answers regarding their assessments of these programs and the level of satisfaction about their impact in reality. Below is a comment from one of the parliament members, which covers the official aspect of this fieldwork. The member emphasised that the proposed programs contained several undeniable positive changes. The perspective this participant provided suggested that it is more vital to oversee the process of enforcing such changes rather than being concerned about the type of its content.
I think the on-going change is perfect; I do not regard it as negative at all; rather it is positive in many aspects; women are becoming much more involved in the decision-making and are now taking on high positions at universities or the Ministry of Education, besides many other places. However, we need to look into the way such roles being treated rather than the percentage of representation. (Interviewee No. 27, female government official)
Several participants in these interviews mentioned that when the government’s women empowerment programs were observed from an economic viewpoint, it emerges that they would boost the economy through investment in various economic recourses. This would transform the country into a new type of advanced economy that does not depend on oil. One of the participants when asked about the validity of these programs, given the fact that fees to acquire such services from the government looked quite costly, answered that:
I am afraid that I do not have any positive comments on these programs, and they are barely effective. The women’s right to drive. Women were drained until they acquire such right, and now they are paying expensive fees to get their license. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
The women empowerment programs are also subject to critical views since they are not related to Saudi women’s reality. One participant saw it as just a type of propaganda. From the interviewee’s understanding, the vast geographical space with diverse cultural and social backgrounds is not taken into consideration in the context of the government programs for women. The interviewee said that the level of consciousness and awareness in the country does not accept anything but radical changes in the matter.
In theory, they are only to serve the government propaganda and help ease the lives of bourgeois, whom seek fewer restrictions on their lifestyle. However, in reality, it is helping to raise awareness among activists to present new demands. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
The government empowering programs are unrealistic as per this participant. The participant thought that in some cases, the programs are discriminative and stratified, because they are not engaging all sets within society, and do not possess the foundation that would takes care of the basic needs of women in Saudi Arabia. These programs are almost designed to only help those women who do not suffer from systemic abuse because of their familial environment.
It is very limited in terms of empowerment, and you could sense that it is only impacting one particular group in the society, not every single woman in the country. (Interviewee No. 25, female activist)
The social environment is the primary factor that determines Saudi woman’s ability to acquire their rights. This interviewee thought that the family a woman is brought up in is the primary factor that determines whether their rights are upheld, not the external regulations or the government women empowerment programs. They emphasised that being a member of an understanding family is the first window for a woman to experience a relatively comfortable life. For the less fortunate, the programs will not have any impact.
Women who are living under open-minded parents, their lives became much easier, but those who are living in a family that does not accept such changes. I do not see any significant change in their situation. They are to this date not able to live outside of their guardian’s influence. (Interviewee No. 28, male activist)
This participant stated that the complications Saudi women face in gaining their rights have ideological basis. The participant stated that the situation affiliated with this subject started three years ago when changes were witnessed, and people began to interact more. Most respondents claimed that these changes came very late and had no justifications. For instance, banning and then delaying the law to allow women to drive was a decision influenced by religious scholars and not by the government. Moreover, reforms were already beginning to take shape in many aspects of Saudi women’s lives. Nevertheless, the society’s behaviour is beneficial in such a situation and could affect the proper way of governance.
Right now, and for almost two or three years, the situation began to ease within the society, as well as within the government. For example, the decision about allowing women to drive, even such decision the government should not have taken too long to consider it since there is no particular law that prohibited women from driving, but because the influence of religious scholars, we found ourselves arguing a case that is not of any significance within the laws. (Interviewee No. 2, male government official)
Clearly, some of the responses provided, especially by the official group, state that the proposed government programs for women empowerment were effective and worked towards achieving specific goals in Saudi women’s lives. Even then, one parliament member believed that the current situation is starting to completely change with regard to women, but they were yet to understand why it took so long for these changes to come about in the first place.
It is very good and effective. At last, women got their proper representation. (Interviewee No. 24, female government official)
Another participant from the parliament described the situation in the parliament. The representation of women reached more than 20%, thus there is a significant indication that there were official efforts to reform. This official effort has been in force at the higher government positions, and it is meant to ensure that this situation becomes the norm in many other government entities as well as the society.
It is good. For example, we have in the parliament about 30 women members who are notably effective and treated as equally as the men members. (Interviewee No. 3, male government official)
Based on the response of this official participant, the majority of people running the government are young, and the younger generation of leaders are taking control over many vital positions in the country. The result is that many decisions made by the government are connected to public needs and demands. This observation refers to the high level of partnership with the citizens and the government’s efforts to include them in diverse debates concerning domestic issues. This participant claimed that such measures are implemented equally these days for men and women since the reform in women’s situations is a result of radical change.
The Saudi citizen is the main driver of development and it’s an effective tool, and the young men and women of this country are the pillars of achievement and the hope of the future. Saudi women have enjoyed great support from the King, enhancing their participation alongside men in advancing the development of the Kingdom. A number of decisions were issued in favour of them, the most important of which was to allow women to drive cars, to introduce the harassment law. (Interviewee No. 19, female government official)
Some of the official participants emphasised that empowering women had been the government’s agenda for a long time. The government pushed rapidly for women’s inclusion in social events, even if such efforts declined at some point in one aspect as the participant mentioned, they still were encouraged in other aspects of life. The current success achieved by Saudi women is not attributed to the recent empowerment programs, but earlier work that has reached its result now. The concept of empowering women these days is slightly different, and the official establishment is making direct efforts to ensure women reach higher positions, without any bureaucratic hurdles.
Programs are thankfully supportive and build on what has been before. This is evidenced by the fact that despite the late start of formal education in the Kingdom for women, they are now holding the highest degrees from Arab and foreign universities inside and outside the Kingdom, and hold the highest positions in several fields, and proficient in various health sectors, and in law, engineering, and so on. (Interviewee No. 20, female government official)
Those interviewed during data collection recognise a change of reality regarding women in Saudi Arabia. This official participant said that there are conflicting perceptions from policymakers in the country whenever they encounter women’s issues. This is regardless of the extent it is attached to social reality in the country. The debate about women have utterly changed from previous times, and the issues tabled about women’s right, are relatively new, thus creating a new kind of awareness among people.
I think we have come a long way; we are, in fact from year to year, we are witnessing a significant leap. Of course, it will discuss what sort of a qualitative shift, and whether it is positive or not, this is a different debate. Our talk about women is completely different from what used to be, it became acceptable to raise debates about many women’s related matters, which considered in the past to exceed the usual. (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
The absence of women representatives in some of the government and private entities in the past is not an indicator of inequality towards women, according to this participant. Admitting that women’s inclusion in many aspects of social and professional life is desired by many in Saudi Arabia, such a process should be undertaken with a high degree of reality and gradation. The current women empowerment programs are not based on a solid foundation with a clear aim to solve the women’s rights issues. The frame in which women empowerment demands are presented are not subject to debate, but the way such plans are being implemented should be revisited, and this was what he emphasised.
I don’t think women’s rights have been missing for years. I believe that many of the forms of empowerment that took place within government agencies were for the sake of show-off only. Women did not take the natural hierarchy of the job, in terms of professional ladder and sufficient experience. But certainly, the position of women today is different from what they were in the past. (Interviewee No. 8, male government official)
This parliament member indicated that society carries the greatest load in propelling the government towards introducing new plans for women empowerment. They suggested that the current generation is far more understanding of the situation and could further boost its issue to be debated in larger social events. Such efforts also lead to significant change concerning the programs presented about women empowerment, as well as the government’s current modern stance towards this particular issue, in their effort to change the world perception about the country.
I noticed the new generations, especially those under 30, if I’m right. They are more acceptable than older generations, this remark in the teams I saw and dealt with, and the observation in the behaviour of the graduate students I teach. The new generation is more receptive to these programs, and also has no strong reluctance such as those who are older, whom usually are taking some social values as an excuse for this kind of thoughts. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
The newly presented women empowerment programs came very late, according to this participant. While in the past, discussing similar issues could entail many social complications, it is apparent that many are still not comfortable with it. Moreover, there was a rather high level of religious scholars’ intervention in this matter, resulting in limitation in the aspect of women empowerment in the country. Nowadays, with growing pressure from different parties, the women empowerment discourse is extremely loud, which also could affect the aim of its activists. The discourse needs to be in line with the cultural values of Saudis, and more importantly, accept all types of ideologies prevalent in society.
It is a discourse that has been imprisoned for too long, because there are contraindications. These barriers were social, religious and even governmental. Women were pushing for this kind of empowerment and hence there was a very strong openness later on. I believe that the discourse that exists today is directed towards the empowerment of women, but I also believe that it has not been adjusted to specific criteria and is therefore somewhat incontinent. There are those who use the discourse to serve their own agenda. Some want change to occur without any consideration of the social context in the country. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
An official participant emphasised that the government’s model for women empowerment is the perfect example that could be adopted at this time, as they are consistent with local culture and were not adopted from Western texts. Besides, they are open to the demands presented by the women’s rights discourse, which have increased their acceptance.
Personally, I see that it is going in an excellent way and suits the society because in the end we should not take the Western stereotypes on the assumption that it suits us. A ready-made template from the West is not necessarily the best. (Interviewee No. 5, female government official)
The data collected also indicated that some of the participants believed that the government was rushing the changes in these programs. They expressed the opinion that the government had no reconsideration for the high number of unemployment among Saudi women because of the lack of proper planning for such proposed change, and it did not look into the social and cultural context in the country. They suggested that there have not been any significant social studies for the type of lifestyle led by women living outside large cities.
The government is rushing this topic, maybe because there is high percentage of unemployment among women who are about half the population, and that enough reason to try to fit them in the work-field, but we need to be cautious in such step. (Interviewee No. 31, male activist)
I have noticed that there is focus on the media aspect of this empowerment, through my reading for newspapers and during my watch for TV; giving women positions that used to be for men, which I regard as being good step, but I want to say again that they must take cultural context into consideration, to create our edition of such programs based on our values. (Interviewee No. 29, male activist)
While optimism is quite noticeable in the official participants’ answers, quite the opposite surfaced in the activists’ responses. In the response of the activist given below, it is evident that they believe that the proposed government programs were only for propaganda purposes, since they were barely competent on the ground and did not serve women in overcoming the struggles they were facing daily in society. They also claimed that new changes in laws are unclear and could easily be subjected to abuse from officials.
Smokescreen programs for media consumption, which do not serve women who suffer and do not target any change. As long as laws especially the guardianship and the lack of enjoyment of women’s rights of full citizenship are shackled to the fate of women. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
The new government attitude towards providing new programs for women empowerment is not founded in any cultural or social background, according to these two participants. While the official body aims to reduce the international pressure on women’s issues, they are developing plans to reform that, to a great extent, reflect Western values more than Saudis’ reality. Moreover, the government is also under immense pressure regarding transforming the country’s economy, which requires more significant participation in the workforce as well as the political composition of the country, which is also subject to change.
As usual, it is directed at the satisfaction of the outside and the courting of the Western mood in part, and in part driven by difficult economic and political imperatives. (Interviewee No. 23, female activist)
Government’s women’s empowerment programs, I see them only as an attempt to adapt to an economy market that is incompatible with the dynamics of society, public relations campaigns and polish the image in front of Western society. These programs can contribute to openness and human rights gains, but if they do not focus on full and equal reform, we will not see the gains and contributions as desired. The short-term winner seems to be the women of the liberal elite who do not cover their faces, who have a profile that fascinates the viewer and the Western observer, and the short-term loser is the conservative middle-class women or, say, the niqab. I do not count much on the programs if not monitored by feminist and directed to serve everyone, not to serve the image of the government and its reputation before the international community. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
These two participants’ views were similar to an extent and echoed the stance of another social media user who believed that the government was only trying to serve its agenda by suggesting such programs. Both agreed that there was a complete dismissal of a few crucial issues in the programs that directly influenced the lives of Saudi women. Conversely, they presented such changes as some victory for the Western media. Both participants were reluctant to refer to it in such a manner.
Government’s propaganda mostly. Any empowerment of women that does not affect the guardianship law is not empowerment but silence. (Interviewee No. 17, female activist)
Just an interface for Western media. It is not really enabling. (Interviewee No. 18, female activist)
There is class inequality in Saudi Arabia, which made this participant offer their pessimistic opinion about such programs. The participant believed that the suggested adjustments were designed to serve one particular group of women. Those women, as the participant described, did not need more privileges in their lives. According to them, the programs should have directed efforts towards enhancing the lives of women who are less fortunate. These issues made participants question the aims of the reforms, stating that it was a massive propaganda campaign. According to respondents, the reforms would ultimately serve the official establishment in front of the international community, in addition to dissipating some of the pressure on the officials about the women’s situation.
It is not radical enough and is competent only to improve the status of women with privileges, as well as to improve the country’s image in the world regarding the status of women inside Saudi. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
This activist in the women’s rights discourse is highly conservative about the recently presented women empowerment programs. They emphasised in their answer the shortcomings of these plans and their lack of connection with reality and the demands of many women in the country, claiming it is almost as though those who designed these programs come from privileged backgrounds and are disjointed from the social reality and the daily struggles endured by women. Thus, these programs are discriminative towards the lower class of Saudi women. Furthermore, respondents argued that the proposed programs were inefficient because they received little support from official agencies.
I find it very bad and much less acceptable and it almost does not include all women, but only reaches people with privileges. For example, the decision for women driving came at an excellent time, especially since it did not require the consent of the guardian, or was determined by a certain age and this was good. But women’s empowerment programs include only those who have privileges, either economically or privileged to live in a big city. I am in Qassim, yet there is no driving school, although it is open in other major cities. The waiting numbers are long. This means that the government’s decisions regarding women’s empowerment have not reached everyone. Only for a certain social class. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
Few activists have stated their minimal acceptance for the recent programs. The government is proposing extremely serious and genuine programs for women’s empowerment, according to this participant. Although the participants firmly belief that such programs are worthy, according to them, the women’s situation was far too complicated and needed rather deep interventions to rebuild the relationship between the society and women, who have been subjected to considerable negativity in the past few years. The most important thing, according to this participant, is that the government understands the significance of this matter, which would allow them to introduce radical changes and would endow the willingness to enforce them in reality.
It’s okay but not enough, late and not enough again, and I still don’t feel any real seriousness about it all. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
The Saudi government recently started to understand Saudi women’s needs according to this participant. In any case, it should be considered as a huge step towards having superior means of social partnership in the country. Presently, the momentum totally lies with the officials to play their assigned role perfectly to ensure that such programs are enforced on the ground.
Step in the right direction. It has made some tangible gains that the feminist discourse has long demanded. But it should not be relied upon as the purpose of the discourse and an end in itself. Unless the decision-maker is prepared to respond to it in faith in the legitimacy of the claims generated by the discourse. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
5.3 Professional Society: Representing Women, or Reflection of Social Levels
This discourse is a discussion about equality between the genders in the workplace and in wages is a global debate. In Saudi Arabia, which is a considerably more conservative society, it was debated for a long time that the labour market for women should be limited to health and education sectors. Traditions overwhelmed the public’s opinion about working women, regardless of their qualifications. In the last few years, Saudi women started to acquire higher positions in the workplace and jobs that had long been exclusively for men. Such introduction came at a cost, since there was a notable absence of regulations that organise such working environments, along with the barriers women face in the workplace globally. Compared to men, women still face many obstacles to gain opportunities in the professional world. Moreover, studies have proved that the employment of women in places dominated by men is usually significantly more laborious because of the glass ceiling, which prevents many women from getting promotions in these jobs (Cech and Blair-Loy, 2010). Thus, gender limitations should not be a defining factor in what an individual can do.
The second section examines the interviewees’ views on the role of women in executive positions in the government. This was a way to understand how women’s issues are presented in these organisations and the level of representation they have gained by working directly with the government. One of the main points of discussion in many critical studies about Saudi women is that a type of representation has happened wherein they have been allowed to present their situation or engage in dialogue about their ideas.
This ex-parliament member said in their answer that they notice a slight change from the past. Women’s engagement in work-field, right to speak up about their needs, and present their ideas has become much more effective. The new adopted official ways started in era of the former King, as they believed women in Saudi Arabia have knew changes in their reality as an effective part of the economy which resulted in being a pivotal part of the social representation and part of the collective identity from that time.
Since the era of King Abduallah, women became much more involved in the decision-making process and the parliament is good example for that. (Interviewee No. 14, female government official)
An interviewee active in the women’s rights discourse on social media revealed that many of those who represent Saudi women in high executive roles in the government are not particularly valid representatives. They thought that having women who held the same position on the matter as men would not solve any problems, and Saudi women’s issues would remain unresolved. The lack of original content about women will not change.
The women engagement is a really good thing, though it will not enforce change 100%, but the engagement of a woman with no feminism views, is much similar to a patriarchy ideas in public entity related to women. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
It is a step conditioned by the need to have a fair representation for women, based on the demands of the feminist discourse in the country. The type of involvement by this participant view will not be sufficient to acquire the changes sought, but when there is representation that mirrors the discourse on social media, this reflection will be able to gain success, in their opinion.
Yet for the women engagement to be fulfilled, because they are selected by the official and not elected by public; as a result, I can sense its future is not clear. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
Among the different answers I got from activists, several respondents mentioned that women who are working in such positions are privileged, since their social backgrounds helped them reach these roles or their family’s connections did. Others talked about some women coming from wealthy families which could be the main reason that gave them the power to represent a large number of women in the country; Others regarded such representation to be symbolic with a barely noticeable impact.
I don’t see any influence. Women who are able to reach for such positions in the government are mostly privileged. Besides these entities are not able to change laws. (Interviewee No. 28, male activist)
I think it is very negative and below the expectation in many cases. Also, it is only for privileged women and not everyone could reach as high. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
The participants active in the women’s rights discourse on social media platforms had conflicted emotions about the value of women’s representation in higher positions. This interviewee emphasised that the presence of women within such establishments is vital to change the stereotypes prevalent in society regarding women’s engagement in decision-making, though, at the same time, they mentioned that the current representation is extremely reluctant when it comes to engaging with many significant issues.
It is good to normalize the appearance of women in the public sphere; I don’t see any negativity of doing so. Although, its impact is barely noticed if the current situation carried on not changing. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
This parliament member mentioned that women are yet to be fully involved in the high executive processes. They highlighted the shortcomings and the inability of the government to address the issue from the beginning by pointing areas in which women can operate and swiftly be introduced into the workforce without any limitations in terms of necessary skills.
I see the impact could be noticed from the women’s presence in similar environment, as it gets the opportunity to express her opinion. The second point, I noticed that many women who have been involved in these committees have succeeded in terms of representation, but on the other side, many struggled because women were until recently not involved in similar practices and now they found themselves in a field that many men have already mastered. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
In a similar response, this participant talked about the nature of women’s engagement now as being presented without much consideration of the country’s cultural background. They saw that it is easy to replicate other countries’ experiences to try to solve an issue that has been going on for a while, but they accentuated that that would not provide solutions.
When they appoint a woman as a head of one of the sub-municipalities, I wondered about her genuine ability to take in such role. This is a logical question, since the point is not just empowering women by putting them in positions, they have never had any experience before. (Interviewee No. 29, male activist)
One former member of the parliament and another current member stated that women were prevented from reaching all public platforms up until recently. This made it impossible for them to express their abilities in many avenues, besides the ones who were allowed to operate within areas like health and education. The respondents concur on the point that the current situation opens up a window for Saudi women to reveal their abilities and reveal many more areas in life in which a woman can thrive.
It is certainly impacting the reality. Aspects where women proved their success. (Interviewee No. 10, female government official)
It is very effective, we used to a situation where women did not have neither presences nor voice. (Interviewee No. 24, female government official)
This official participant thought that the rise in the level of women’s representation in many government entities and even within the private sector was because the country as a whole had significantly developed in terms of education. The percentage of educated women has risen to the point that organisations cannot ignore such talents coming to the work field.
Right now, after the rise in the number of educated women along with the number of universities in the country, as well as providing scholarships in different countries around the world. The influence became so obvious (…) Saudi women are really impacting such field and if we measure the productivity of the job market after the women empowerment, we will be surprised by the numbers. (Interviewee No.4, male government official)
This participant pointed out the differences regarding the type of participation. From their perspective, identifying the sort of individuals who represent women in either government or private sectors is vital to evaluate the level of influence these women have on reality. The respondent admitted that women involved in such institutions should be appreciated, and this should become part of the norm.
Women’s participation in civil society and other associations remains limited, and their future is uncertain and their conditions unclear. The reason from my view is that participation came by appointment, and level of recruitment is not enough to empower. There are still many constraints for women to participate effectively in civil society institutions. This is what makes the discourse improve the status of women, raise a number of claims that govern the daily life of women even before they are members of an institution or association. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
This participant believed that the participation of women in the work environment was barely noticed and that it does not represent women from all classes of society. Most of these women are adopting a rhetoric that does not seek to empower women because they are working under organisations that is supervised by male officials, which prevent them from proposing any radical change. Moreover, the lack of cultural representation in these places made this participant question their willingness to reform.
It lacks credibility because it adopts superficial government discourse and does not express women values. Just government employees whom not representative of women and their demands. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
The impact on women’s situation, according to this participant, can be sensed from different aspects, including the presence of women in various jobs, while impacting the decision-making process even if minimally, and this is a significant change according to this participant. Some behaviours do not need the force of law to be changed; and further, there is an image that does not need government intervention to be implemented. She believes that many agree that the government is putting in the effort to allow women to lead their lives as they please. Claiming that a strategy in a place by government as they constantly encouraging the appearance of women in social events, as it going to help change many perceptions about Saudi women.
Influential in terms of normalising the presence of women in the scene regardless of the quality of that presence. But as content we cannot expect women to be effective and have the decision-making capacity that men already lack – the Shura (parliament) as a model. (Interviewee No. 23, female activist)
Women’s participation in various jobs is an attempt to inject life into the current economy, which is more than an effort to give women their lost rights. There are many women currently working in environments that are disjointed from the society’s way of thinking. Also, this sort of participation was not based on clear plans from the beginning, and the kind of integration implemented is not in tune with reality. This participant claimed that the level of influence women have in this field is barely recognised, because many of the beneficiaries of these changes are women from certain ideologies or particular backgrounds which are much more open-minded. This group of women helps the official cause in the eyes of Western media, who see the change from one frame without understanding the complexity of the society.
The participation of women in positions and membership in official associations and institutions will not be effective. As long as the government’s agenda is more interested in the look of these plans rather than the outcome of the results. Often those in office are women who are socio-economic elites who are separated from the reality in their communities, who do not care about the street and its real requirements. There will be no change as long as the public relations and reputation campaigns before the international community have been the concern. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
The appearance of women in the workforce beyond the health and education sectors has become more of a regular occurrence in Saudi Arabia, as this participant described. However, they added that, to this day, it is difficult to see the changes brought about by women in these establishments. The women who occupied higher positions barely influenced society. The participant thought that men are still conservative in either government entities or the private sector and did not give women the authority to take care of the organisation. The participant insisted on not being pessimistic, but it was vital to ensure that changes occur.
I don’t like being so pessimistic, but even the women who have reached influential positions have not been able to change anything fundamental. I am still not quite positive about the future. (Interviewee No. 18, female activist)
The image of the government on the domestic or the global level is the determinant for women’s influence in the workforce. This participant claimed that women in the workforce were driven by the agenda of the government and the international community, and that they were not being treated as citizens. Women in Saudi Arabia have the right to hold jobs in line with their cultural and social context, but the jobs that were being created only suit one group of the society.
Yes, influential to the external presences of the state and its image, but to women, no. (Interviewee No. 25, female activist)
This activist in the women’s rights discourse thought that the government project to push for the incorporation of many more women in the workforce was a sign of genuine change in the women’s situation, which could have significantly affected the whole country. However, it appeared to be the opposite, and many women voiced their struggle to acquire their fundamental rights, which the official establishment is quite reluctant to give them. This reality made many women who reach for higher positions in the decision-making process to have limited impact and be barely influential as it appeared these days.
In the beginning, this kind of empowerment was about to paint a different image in front of the world about the situation of Saudi women, but the persistent voices of oppressed women and those with no privileges to qualify for what women with privilege can reach in addition to the arrest of activists shook the image that the authority tried to paint to the world. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
This official participant believed that when women in Saudi Arabia were presented the chance to engage fully in the workforce and decision-making process, it was reflected in the type of social responsibility practices across the country. Given that Saudi women are one of the most effective driving force for charity and volunteer activities as this government official indicated, many families are developing awareness about the importance of women working in jobs and providing income, overcoming one of the most conservative ideas that affected the lives of many Saudis in the past.
Most of the charities and civil society associations are run by women volunteers and have achieved great success in the administration of giving and, assisting those in need, educating the needy families and transforming the grassroots from pastoral to participant in development process. (Interviewee No. 19, female government official)
The idea of encouraging women to acquire jobs, to fill out the absence of women from similar areas, is highly inefficient, according to this participant. One significant factor that made them question both official and private establishments’ intention was their reluctance to introduce regulations that protect women who are working in this environment, as well as steps to facilitate the bare existence to encourage programs for women in these places.
The participation of women in any field will not be affected as long as there are no legislative institutions that can legitimise the laws that serve the women wellbeing completely. (Interviewee No. 22, female activist)
This female official went beyond some of the statements presented by officials about the current situation by declaring that Saudi women are thriving in the current working environment in the country, which is supervised directly by the government to ensure proper success. Claiming that what is occurring these days is that women are becoming able to assume executive roles in major organisations within a short time and are representing the diverse country embassies and international agencies around the world.
Women were distinguished from the beginning and influential in associations that touch all vital issues in the homeland, which has exceeded 1400 associations in the country. It has also represented the Kingdom abroad in embassies and consulates, the United Nations, the Human Rights Commission, the World Health Organization and others deservedly. (Interviewee No. 20, female government official)
This participant provided their assessment of women’s participants in the workforce from two aspects. They admitted that women’s presence has reduced in fields related to health and education as was the case in the past, and they are now taking positions that the society needed them to be in. Conversely, they said that some institutions are trying to enforce women’s representation in certain job without any notable addition for either the establishment or the employees; this made their presence look as if it was a response to the pressure.
Women did not exist in many institutions, and their work was limited to education, health, and areas which concerned deeply with women’s affairs. Now they compete with men everywhere. When we go to companies, women are found without the restrictions and limitations that were present in the past, even in some government institutions, and these regulations are missing. (Interviewee No. 8, male government official)
This previous member of the parliament saw the presence of women in many workplaces as a significant step towards starting new discussions. They claimed in their answers that there were high expectations from women before their recent transformation in terms of jobs, which affected them to some extent. Many of the qualities men developed over the years to run such institutes, women lack now. Also, they answered that many of these organisations do not care much about the culture we live in, and they handle working women in a manner that does not provide them the proper environment to prevail in. This issue could be solved by introducing new regulations, organising an established relationship with the woman employee, as they thought.
I see the impact sometimes lies in just being in such meetings, where they get the ability to express their opinion. The second point, my observation that there is a percentage of those who participate in these meetings succeeded in the representation, but on the other side there is a large proportion did not succeed as required, because the denial of women for many years of developing skills in these meetings, from dealing with the system and engaging with it expertly (…) I think the journey of change passes over time. The next stage may be appropriate for a wider correction. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
This official participant presented their perception of the nature of women’s participation in the professional field on their experience: they described their current time in the parliament as one of high equality between the two genders, where barely any type of discrimination occurred. The women members effectively play their decision-making role on the same level as from men. They also added that women introduce more radical views than men under the dome of the parliament, which aim to help working women outside.
Personally, I now feel that in the Shura Council my workplace, women have the right to what men are entitled to. I haven’t sensed any kind of discrimination against women in the Council at all. (Interviewee No. 5, female government official)
The old practices of men dominating the workplace are no longer accepted. It was inventible that officials will intervene at some point to change this reality this participant said. They added that to transform into a new era of reform, we must provide women the right features to produce in such a working environment by introducing workplaces that are much more considerate of the social culture. Similarly, the decision-maker must acknowledge that appointing women in the right positions would make them more qualified to produce better decisions than men. The outcome is that the society will have fruitful relationships, which would also help women succeed and grow.
I believe that the presence of women has become necessary and must be within plans. For myself, I support any association related to women’s affairs, that there should be representation of women in their meetings. Women have needs and demands, which men are unable to express them, but their presence gives credibility to these associations when making a decision, not just men making decisions whose impact is not known. (Interviewee No. 31, male activist)
5.4 Future Representation: Vision 2030 and Women Inclusion
The third section of this chapter involved examining the interviewees’ answers about their assessment of the current change in Saudi women’s reality. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is the central concern of many government entities, with as well as the private sector. Since the government’s announcement about this project, which proposed changes in the lifestyle and the way of governance, the vision became the talking point for many social media users.
The world today is moving towards providing alternative plans to accommodate new shifts in reality. Often, such changes happen unconditionally in advanced countries. The developing countries are more driven towards producing plans that seek to provide equality and improve the level of income in theory. Population increase makes governments constantly fearful of rising rates of unemployment, among other issues that come with population increase. Also, in such developing societies, the questions about women’s situation, the level of acquired rights compared to men, the status of working women in the country, health situation, social communication, and culture interaction (Cohen, 2006) are also pertinent. Hence, there should be a balance in utilising state resources.
Those who closely follow the plans by the Saudi government in 2016 are wondering if such plans will include women in a far significant manner in different aspects of life since men are notably dominating much of the policy-making positions in the country. Women around the world are struggling to acquire equal chances in many jobs, especially the ones that required hand labour, such as biology, medicine, and agriculture, which are mostly dominated by men (Sikora and Pokropek, 2012). This situation is far worse in the case of Saudi Arabia, where many of these practises are shrouded by many conservative ideas.
The participants who provided answers in this stage of collecting data were from both groups. The groups included activists who are active on social media and officials who represent the government’s point of view to a great extent. Initially this input from a former member of the parliament broadly agreed with the full-frame presented by the government’s vision about the current country’s situation and the planned future changes. Nonetheless, respondents expressed their fears by mentioning that it is only verbal promises and proposed reforms without any in-depth examination of the reality and interest in the role that could be played by the Saudi women; and they emphasised the need for greater representation of women in important roles.
The role of the woman in the vision to this date needs much more understanding and examining. To be put in the same mould compared to men. (…) Personally, I think we have reached a level where qualified women should be appointed in places like the cabinet, higher committee of economy and higher committee of national security. (Interviewee No.14, female government official)
To a similar extent, some official participants agreed with the view that the vision could serve as the foundation for many Saudis to redefine the current reality they live in. This answer said that the government called upon women to represent them in scripting the agenda of this new era of reformation. As she maintained that such pattern expresses the changes in the way of thinking and a step towards the integration of women.
Women are vocal in the Kingdome Vision for 2030, they are involved in drafting its agenda, and they are highly engaged in the process of enforcing change in the ground. As the nation does not segregated between man and woman and the latter is more than able to give and build. (Interviewee No. 20, female government official)
One of the official participants said that women’s engagement in the process of decision-making helps the vision in covering all aspects of life. They mentioned particular events in which the government made a vital intervention that showed their eagerness to enforce the vision’s agenda, as the introduction of a committee concerned with family matters. She also stated in her response the importance of the government keeping track of such changes on the grounds.
It is fundamental for women to be involved in the process and to be empowered. However, the government in the wide frame of things established the family committee and gave it the proper importance, as I believe that women should still regard her role within the family as very significant. (Interviewee No. 5, female government official)
One of the responses, which provided a critical view within the official group, was by a female parliament member, who stressed that the women empowerment agenda in the vision should not be divorced from the familial and social factor since there is a deep connection between the two. She further said that the government should not replicate similar development plans from other countries and use it in Saudi society, without considering the people’s way of thinking. Also, she insisted on the importance of not having content that suggests merging women in social life, which is a global borrowing and does not have any foundation in Saudi society.
The development peocess shall not separate the women’s issues from the family and society matters as whole, as well as the dealing towards women’ issue should not be categorized. (…) The development process is not a similar process among diverse societies, which could be practiced in every country and I would encourage the officials to take that into consideration. (Interviewee No. 27, female government official)
Among activists in the women’s right discourse on social media, some of the participants’ answers appeared to be much more conservative regarding the 2030 Vision’s promises in overturning the women’s situation in the country. This interviewee provided their pessimistic views on any changes proposed by the government with regard to changing their ways of dealing with individuals who hold different point of views. They mentioned the latest arrest campaign for feminists’ activists. It is a source of concern regarding the government’s intention.
I don’t think, and you can see the government dealing with feminists and activists who demand for women rights. They are jailed. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
The participant expressed that there is an urgent necessity to propose a government project which tackles the women’s rights issue in the country is a rather serious manner. The participants indicated that they noticed some development in this topic, even though it does not appear that the foundations are based on humanitarian grounds, or a firm belief in the demands of the group, even though some of these demands are crucial for the government to reach their economical aims.
I guess the women situation is improving by the time, but I am not quite certain if such changes are based on the government believing in the women’s rights, but it could be their way to reach the objects of the Vision and especially the economical one. (Interviewee No.11, male activist)
Some respondents highlighted that the government is only making changes because they are interested in women’s potential influence on the economy. The rate of unemployed women is causing the government enormous social issues, and besides, they are looking into much more female participation in sports events, to enhance the culture of public health. They both added an important point from their view about the significant gesture of engaging women hugely to forward the government agenda.
It is priority, in term of economical responsibility. There are high levels of unemployment, barely involvement in the private sector, decline in the public health and sport practicing. It is high in their agenda as a symbolic slogan, but not as significant change. (Interviewee No. 23, female activist)
Yes, as long as it helping their economical aims. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
It became much more normal to hear doubtful responses from activists in this women’s rights discourse, which are about the way the government’s Vision 2030 is presenting changes for women. This interviewee expressed their total reservation by saying that the vision aims only to help the official establishment and serve its propaganda, as they do not notice any projects that are dedicated to help citizens, all these projects are filtered through the official agenda and the ones that serve their interests.
I think the Vision is prioritising the Crown Prince image, and that the main object it seems to care about. (Interviewee No. 17, female activist)
The current situation in Saudi Arabia made this participant claim that they doubt the government’s intention about following through their women empowerment programs. While admitting that the projects, in theory, appear to prioritise women, this interviewee’s previous experiences had shown them that the government had promised similar changes in the past without much changing.
The idea by itself is encouraging. However, we have seen the officials’ practices and that make me doubtful. (Interviewee No. 28, male activist)
There is no denial of the current transformation in Saudi Arabia, even among activists. This activist participant said that the government clearly includes women in their plans of reform, but the question was always about the type of empowerment and its extent. They claimed in that their previous experiences have taught them that such plans, if significantly mentored, did not follow their claims to ensure effectiveness on the ground. They mostly failed as many of the women empowerment plans before them. They emphasised that most of these suggested plans aim to polish the officials’ image and are barely interested in solving the issue.
Women are definitely one of their priorities, but they are still very formal and do not respond to the basic demands. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
Saudi Arabia is a significantly large country with people from diverse backgrounds and social classes. There is no way of determining how these plans will include women and how they will be implemented, this participant indicated. The plans about women presented by the government should mainly focus on benefitting Saudi women in general. The bureaucracy could cause delay in the execution of such plans, which requires the government’s direct mentoring to be effective.
You cannot see society or people as a unit. There are many trends, currents and interests that control people’s reaction as long as the state has proven its seriousness with reform and openness, the public’s confidence in the project will be increased and welcome. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
The current government through their presented plans seemed to only objectify women engagement without any sort of genuine participation, and they do not seem willing to change this reality, this participant claimed. The government is benefiting from this patriarchal system, which controls all aspects of power within the government and helps many men benefit from similar projects. This is totally in the government’s favour.
I believe that the presence of women in the vision is only a formality and there are no signs of radical change taking into account that it is drafted by males in a way that preserves their interests and gains under the patriarchal system on which the state is based. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
There is a radical change that is brewing in the official establishment, this participant said. This parliament member emphasised the firm belief that there is no genuine change could happen in the country without highly effective engagement from women. Adding that by giving women total control over their decisions and their lives will reflect on the country’s image both domestically and globally.
Empowering women is the cornerstone of achieving Vision 2030, where no societal progress or advancement can be achieved while 50% of society is not empowered and lacks some rights. (Interviewee No. 24, female government official)
Some of the decision-makers who participated in the process recognised the changes well before the deadline of the transformation plan in 2030. This official participant reported seeing that women are starting to affect many areas in the country, which also reflects on women’s lives and their level of productivity in the society promptly. Furthermore, along with the government’s aim to transform the economy, it needs to increase the share of consumers who spend their earnings in the country, more than foreign migrants who usually send money home and whose presence is mostly temporary.
The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 aims for increasing the participation of women in the labour market and raising the standard of living, culture and social status of women. (Interviewee No. 19, female government official)
The Saudi Arabian government in its effort to impose change in the country should understand the importance of changing the reality of women, according to this official participant. Women should be a major factor in the social structure, and to achieve this, an independent entity must supervise the implementation of the plans and the validation of every proposal presented in this regard. This participant claimed that one of the most significant barriers women face in becoming effective members of the collective workforce are corrupt officials who abuse their power and delay the delivery of any noble services.
What I think we should pay attention to that some officials assign the wrong person in the right place. It is important that individuals who are not responsible do not take over these projects. Taking advantage of the vision terms, there are those who try to use this project to serve their agenda, and therefore make incorrect decisions which will be attributes to the vision. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 has its own specific frameworks and has its own conditions. The implementation of its initiatives requires certain measures. (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
Saudi women should be treated as significant members of the society. This change requires reformation of the cultural backgrounds of the country as well as measurement of the factors that directly impact the society’s decisions about women. The implication of the reform plan according to this participant is to revisit some of the notions regarding women. Focusing on education, for example, would create a new generation that acknowledges this reality considerably more. Furthermore, reviewing what is circulated in media would help advance our goal, all of which according to this participant should be happening under official supervision.
We should not isolate the issue of women from other issues. What is the reason for what happened to women? Society was in this pattern of thinking. In its values system, educational and political, which in turn produced this situation. Therefore, we must standardize these fundamental factors, by changing the social structure, the political structure as well as education. Then we leave no room for small issues, such as women driving, because they really didn’t need state intervention in order to allow women to drive. (Interviewee No. 2, male government official)
This participant commented on the reform plans from a different angle, saying that rational content related to 2030 Vision must be provided because the claims that the vision will utterly transform women reality’s seem exaggerated. They justified their statement by pointing out the women’s struggles around the world, the significant difference in wages from men. They also claimed that it is highly difficult to predict the future in the country and the kind of change that could happen, although they emphasised that the plan to enhance women’s situation should be based on revisiting the current regulations, providing an immediate change for any shape of abuse within the texts.
The social reality in more developed countries than Saudi Arabia, indicates that women have not been given full equality. This may be on paper, but there is a lack of rights, harassment rates are still high for working women, and wages are still lower than men in jobs in general. Therefore, it is not possible to predict that we will become more realizing for the concept of justice and equality between men and women faster than others who preceded us with these laws and concepts, but at first they must be established just as roles and ultimately within the regulations set by the official institution, so that society can assimilate these rights and avoid their negative effects, which could accompany any new experience in these societies, which still experience many patterns debates about coexistence, not only with women. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
There is almost not a single government plan for reform in 2030 that does not include women according to this former member of the parliament. They said that in theory, women are a major factor in the current plans for reform led by the official establishment. This is being felt on the ground right now. Yet, that the government is still in the early stages of reaching the hoped goal. They cited Saudis’ experience with working women who supervised many areas in education, and to date, they are a huge success in that felid.
I believe that women in Vision 2030 have clear role, at least theoretically, there is a very clear issue of women’s participation in many programs, perhaps at least any prejudice and discrimination against them has been removed in these programs and this is a welcome step. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
The Saudi government is aiming for change in many life aspects; depending on oil as the primary generator for public funds is no longer a choice according to this participant. Consequently, one of the significant factors for reform is women, improving their engagement in the political and economic sectors. Adding new sources for income requires an increase in the workforce, considering women were barely involved in the past. It needs to be considered if they could directly influence this era of reform. The participant further stated that the Saudi government is constantly trying to change the world’s stereotypes about the country. Such efforts could lead to positive results in favour of women’s rights in one way or another.
Women are part of the vision, but the focus is on economic transformation and the transition from a rentier, oil-dependent state to an economic diversified one. So, there is a focus on tourism projects as another source of income. In order to create the stereotype that I have spoken about, that now we are a modern and rapidly changing country. (Interviewee No. 29, male activist)
This participant stated that part of the solution that could be offered by the reform plans in the future is acknowledging the level of oppression women faced in the past to gain their rights. The equality measure presented by the vision through the frame and the type of women involvement in recreating a new Saudi reality is a positive step. The participant claimed that such a modern way of distributing social tasks will benefit the country immensely, which will result in a greater level of acceptance for any future changes.
We must realize that women have been ignored for a long time, now they must get their fair share of any future projects, and because they missed on many projects in the past, they want to get more than men. So certainly, who designed these government programs will give women more room and empower them, so that they do not get a negative reaction because they are again deprived from participation. These things change rapidly and everyone in their surroundings must include women and convince their children so that they understand the change. (Interviewee No. 31, male activist)
The process of rectification, through history, takes time to realise its goals. This participant believed in the official establishment’s intention to change women’s reality in the country. They emphasised that the society is currently in a stage of developing their awareness, which everyone will harvest in the near future and when that happens, the demands presented would be more radical and the official response would be more understanding. They insisted that they sensed similar developments nowadays.
Yes, because historically every year passes was better for women, there are exceptions, but overall with the passage of time comes awareness, and therefore, the government is forced to adjust to this situation with better decisions. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
5.5 Summary of Key Findings and Insights
In the first chapter of the analytical framework, I focused on assessing the nature of participants’ answers regarding the changes happening for Saudi women on the ground. In the last few years, the Saudi government has proposed several programs for women empowerment, after facing years of criticism on this front. The two groups engaged in this stage of interviews, officials and activists in the women’s rights discourse on social media, had different reactions to the programs, and it is efficient on the ground. This was revealed in my analysis of responses on the subject.
Moreover, one of the most important issues that saw big discussions was the kind of professional practices women are now involved in. Social media users mentioned on different occasions the type of relationship female employees have with their superiors, and how they could reach an ideal environment free of any sort of harassment.
The Saudi Arabian government is leading a huge project to transform itself from a country dependent on oil resources as a primary source of income to one with a multi-sourced economy. This project is set to reach its goal by the year 2030. Social media users in Saudi Arabia have been engaging in constant debates about this proposed vision and how women are being integrated in these plans to this date, after three years of the government’s announcement of the Vision 2030.
Altogether the Saudi women held different and contradictory perspectives regarding the change agenda that was being spearheaded by the Saudi government. The voices that praised the government for its efforts in redefining the role of the Saudi women in a conservative society took a conservative approach in airing their sentiments, which was typical with the traditional perceptions that were always associated with women in the Arab and Islamic cultures. Contrastingly, the women activists that continued to criticise the government can be considered to hold liberal view, which perceived women from a global perspective and consistent with the practices across the liberal and globalised world. These participants felt that the Saudi regime was still very conservative and left behind in the community of modern nations.
In the following chapter, using data from the analytical framework, I revisit the interviewees’ answers about the effects of change on virtual usage. I examined their answers in an attempt to discover their assessment and the discussion developed on social media about of the current situation of women, as well as to look at the way in which social media’s platforms are rapidly reshaping numerous aspects of the lifestyle in Saudi Arabia.
6 Chapter 6: Digital Activism: How Saudi Women Deployed Social Media Platforms to Effect Change
6.1 Introduction
The massive turn from different social groups in Saudi Arabia has mirrored on the users who held thoughts of reform regarding several issues, especially the one related to women. I reflects on the activists’ ability to capitalise on the window presented by social media which enable them to engage in a rapid process to share ideas and change many spectator’s perceptions towards the women situation. Furthermore, it also portrays the ability of these users to understand what has been presented to them through this space in a country that notably censors and oversees almost all the content in traditional media. Many activists understood that social media technology had presented to them the channel to speak their minds and reach out to their peers.
However, such usage, which allows the opportunity to communicate with a considerable number of groups around the world, resulted in shedding light on the struggles Saudis werefacing and explaining the complexity of such reality, which additionally aids significantly the building of vast networks through social media, that could effect change in the women situation in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, there is also an understanding of the challenges that come along with social media in countries that could actively persecute any participants who engage in such discourse, and may be accused of engaging in illegal activities.
This is the second chapter of the analytical framework that will examine the changes in women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. The first chapter analysed the changes that occurred in reality and the women empowerment programs presented. I also assessed the impact these changes had on women’s lifestyle, as well as the nature of women inclusion. These assessments were made based on the context of change that is constant on the ground. They also contextualise the modernisation of the Saudi society in the political, social, and cultural spheres.
The third and last chapter will analyses the respondents’ answers. The questions the interviewees answered were based on the influence of the adopted discourse on social media and the official establishments’ intervention in it in Saudi Arabia. The reality of Saudi women’s lives was used to determine the impact of these discourses on social media. Accordingly, this chapter provides an analytical framework for the use of social media. I also assessed how these changes impacted communication as well as the nature of interaction. Similar to the previous chapter, these assessments were made based on the context of change that is perpetually present on social media.
Considerable theoretical insights concerning human behaviour can be gleaned by understanding the important attributes of the greater context within which a particular behaviour occurs. An analytical framework that outlines the technology and the opportunities it creates, the media platforms and the usage volumes, the themes of conversations and the flow of sentiment in any type of research targeting the online space is particularly useful for understanding the nature and significance of social media in societies and organisations. Some of the social media platforms are extremely unstructured and thus prevent the development of a straightforward theoretical synthesis. Platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook assume several forms and are continuously evolving. Consequently, each application is different in its attributes and therefore affords different limitations or opportunities on behaviour. This chapter endeavours to unfurl the aspects of social media usage and the extent to which it impacts the lives of Saudi users, as well as the pattern of political rule in the country. I conducted interviews with two groups that represent the majority in this specific discourse, which continue unabated on social media. People constantly discuss these matters in their private gatherings, and the government has been heavily engaged in many related issues in the past few years.
6.2 Alternative Space’s Accessibility and Availability: New Media Facilitating New Debate
Many people, Saudis in this case, are flocking to social networking sites such as Twitter that hold the promise of freedom to discuss sensitive national matters without greater state interference. A unique attribute of social media is its ability to offer an alternative to state-regulated media, in print, television, and radio formats. Through social media, the Saudi public has become exposed to novel social, cultural, as well as political influences that have stimulated widespread discourses on the democratising effects of the Internet in general and the impact of social media as an accessible space in particular, thus contributing to the modernisation of the Saudi society. In fact, Sterns and Tennen (2016) highlight that unlike traditional media that employs supervisory and editorial structures to create an institutional mechanism to have compliance with preset standards, social media is largely uncensored. This nature helps to facilitate the diffusion of and access to information.
Some participants reported that social media offers easy and open access to all individuals who seek to participate, with mostly the standards being self-imposed ones. Essentially, there has been a notable change that is characterised by a shift away from state-controlled and censored media to a considerably more diverse and pluralistic media. Moreover, widespread Internet access in Saudi Arabia and the emergent concept of online communities has been key transformations in and modernisation of the country, with social media platforms creating novel forms of public spheres that serve as avenues for people to express their ideas and opinions on diverse religious, cultural, social, and political issues much more openly. In the case of social media, it is worth noting that the Arab Spring – which was a series of uprisings, widespread protests, and insurgencies against some Middle Eastern and North African governments during the early 2011s – was characterised by the explosion and spread of these new media. The use of social media resulted in political transformation in most Arab countries (Poell, 2019).
In the context of the present study, the first communications/responses in this chapter by the interviewees were analysed under the theme “alternative space’s accessibility and availability: new media facilitating new debates”. There has been a transformation that involved moving away from a society dominated by traditional media outlets that were constantly and closely supervised by the government to manipulate and sieve the type of content being shared. Today, there is a relatively freer space for Saudis to interact, comment, share, and demand at occasions without being controlled in many respects.
The possibilities of engagement for the public were notably limited in the past. The government control on many media outlets mirrored the type of content that was being shared on the traditional outlets. Through the interviews, it appeared that many participants from each group agreed that the current state of using various social media platforms greatly differs from the past, in all ways. Those who were a part of the process of public engagement in the past sensed this tremendous shift. The change from a state in which the officials were overseeing everything that was being expressed, regardless of the platforms, and censoring a great deal of content from any traditional outlets, to a state where there is a high level of criticism and extensive engagement with events, is significant, and resulted in forging new ways of interaction.
Many of those interviewed, especially the activists of women’s rights, highlighted this reality in terms of dealing with numerous daily occurrence in the lives of Saudis in the last few years, particularly in social media. Respondent 30 noted:
Since I joined Twitter seven years ago, I have noticed a major shift from my point of view. The discourse went from individuals who ask officials to help them solve problems, to a collective social right discourse, where users become more interested to start groups and work in masses whenever they are seeking change. Such demands became more organized and constantly used new methods to attract the public’s attention. The other major shift is the change from having constant religion related discussions to debates about politics and citizenship in general. (Interviewee. No. 30, female activist)
However, these changes did not affect a single situation of Saudis’ social lives. Many notions started to emerge, as the interviewees mentioned. They thought that several practices were banned in the past, and there was a lack of free expression on these platforms in the Gulf country. From this, it became obvious that many participants believed that social media platforms were fundamental in helping the women’s rights discourse gain tremendous popularity on such platforms, at a very fast pace, in addition to instigating discussions leading to solutions. Respondent 15 remarked:
It transformed from rivalry between conservatives and liberal into a confrontation between government and social rights’ activists. As a result, groups with deep conservative views and the opposite with liberal ideas are engaging in the discussion, which I regard as good transformation. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
The rapid increase in the popularity of social media platforms meant reduction in popularity of the traditional media sources in the country as few participants claimed, although some of the interviewed activists mentioned that there was a total absence of individual participation in the country’s political process. It was not surprising that the masses wanted to comment on political events happening in the Arab region in general and events occurring in Saudi Arabia in particular, all of which greatly influenced their daily lives. According to Respondent 9:
There were not so many social and political windows for expression. Youth were subject to the values of society and state, but social media platforms changed that and created alternative discourses for the situation.(Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
From the responses of some of the interviewees, it emerges that they believed that social media is widely uncensored, thus such space does not discriminate against the type of engagement or the nature of content being shared, which has a major influence in establishing a new reality among users. This spontaneous participation is not intended to spark some sort of an immediate reform, as one of the interviewees, who active in the women’s rights discourse pointed out. The new reality also affects the emergence of influencers in public opinion via social media platforms. Respondent 29 opined:
What we notice that many of the active accounts in such topics, does not intend to be influential and enforce public change. I mean, no one create an account to start some sort of public movement by the precise mean, although they are exposed to wide range of subjects through the mean of discussion. Twitter became an open space for exchanging views, which allow user who adopt ideas that could create some sort of social change, can find more alike people in such platform (…) The process of sharing views and interaction with others, resulted on people being changed, as it is contagious, they take ideas from others and slowly the social reform is happening, and that greatly enhanced because of social media (Interviewee No. 29, male activist).
Of course, this type of change was not influenced by only the emergence of social media and the variety of features that came along with these platforms, which resulted in many Saudis setting up accounts on these sites. Some of the interviewees voiced their assessment of the inevitable reality of change that each society will be exposed to during this era of rapid technological advancements. Moreover, while many in similar societies and under similar regimes would recoil from expressing their thoughts publicly, as social media (Twitter in this case) grants its users the ability to remain anonymous. One interviewee claimed that the said anonymity was one of the main reasons Twitter was gaining the sort of popularity it did among Saudis and a huge contributor to the rise of the level of discussion on the platform. When asked about the advantages of embracing the discourse on Twitter, the respondent noted:
The feature of anonymity, and thus the sharing of life experiences can create cross-regional solidarity networks, although these solidarity networks are limited in their capacity since they are hard to be recreated on the ground, but there’s no doubt that solidarity networks are essential to any progress beyond raising awareness. (Interviewee No. 28, male activist)
Respondent 6 also had similar views, which are expressed below:
The reform is not only down to the change of the way of thinking midst society, it is also because the development in the type of tools, the ability to reach different set of platforms, even while using nicknames. In the past, commenting on public matters happened only in private areas and behind closed doors. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
Several of those being interviewed, however, also perceived some negative impacts of social media’s openness; they thought such an exposed platform is a field for fake news and political propaganda, which aims to attack any group that wants to acquire their lost rights within a society. Besides, it gave officials the ability to intervene and undermine freedom of expression, which could result in allowing them to legally prosecute many users for allegedly breaking laws. Respondent 17 argued:
After introducing new regulations about cyber and technological counter terrorism; the public opinion became so wide and the rise in the number of fake accounts in Twitter that spread misinformation and reports that back the government views. (Interviewee No. 17, female activist)
The above statement adds a new dimension that was missing from many of the interviewees’ answers, about the state’s ability to use these platforms as a tool to serve their agenda, and use the force of law as a way to eliminate the rise of social right activities or movements on the ground. Additionally, they added how such platforms could be the site where many immoral activities in the society could be justified.
6.3 The Emergence of Collective Consciousness: Twitter and The Public Discussion of Social Transition
The decline of the gatekeeper era and the subsequent emergence of social media has led to creation of virtual collective consciousness. The term “virtual collective consciousness” (VCC) has emerged in academia to describe the emergence of knowledge made possible by social media platforms and held in common by multitudes. VCC, or collective consciousness on online platforms, engenders collection action or the pursuit of common goals by a multitude of people. Presumably, the accomplishment of the objectives will benefit the society as a whole. VCC is driven not only by impulsiveness and homogeneity of online actions but also their spontaneity (Marzouki, 2015; Alperstein, 2019). It occurs when a relatively large group of individuals, united by the seamless access to social media platforms, reason and act collectively. This makes it possible to coordinate their actions in an efficient manner since it is possible and even relatively easy to convey their message and secure support from a global audience.
Social media has attributed to a global village of sorts, allowing people from the comfort of their digital devices to find support for their causes. Such a complex form of interaction takes place within an enormous but leaderless and efficient network where communication is effective, leading to collective consciousness. Saudi Arabia, which has experienced a relatively small number of movements on the ground in the past few years, possibly due to individuals’ inability to create a situation in which the public could physically focus on one particular case, since it is highly difficult to organise such events as authorities persecute and sometimes harass participants. Additionally, the lack of political representation affected this situation, as there are no political parties or unions that could lobby against any threat that could harm its members. The interview responses indicated many times the emergence of collective consciousness within Saudis in social media.
Since Saudi Arabia’s population is mainly young, aged between 20 – 30, this fact encouraged this participant to claim that this is the primary reason behind the huge number of social media users in Saudi Arabia. The youth is more exposed to changes and they are often the ones more willing to change. Subsequently, such things could have a huge impact on the manner of interaction on these platforms and the way any discourse draws followers. Respondent 31 noted:
This generation that is mostly represented by millennials who are the majority of users of social media and in many cases, it is their only window to be fair. Regardless of the positives or negatives behind such platforms, however the interaction between counterparts in these spaces is the best aspect for many these days. (Interviewee No. 31, male activist)
The struggle highlighted by this participant is the inability for many civil labour institutions and the government to revisit the most appropriate approach to integrate the majority in terms of lifestyle in the country; the non-renewal state in many of its political approaches created a miscommunication to some extent with those with a new type of mindset. This resulted in the adoption of a new way of presenting plans for changes in this society, which is mainly young. The transition to the type of collective consciousness described above, where the views and opinions of people are a subconscious combination of various tweets and status updates they have consumed over time, is an expected reaction as per Interviewee 13.
Any one following the timeline of feminist and libertarian struggles in recent years, it is noticeable the magnitude of the impact on the collective awareness, especially on women’s issues, where the discussions were returned to the agenda of many important circles such as issues of harassment, rape, gender, and the right of women to own their bodies despite opposition and attack, but the turnout for this debate and the discourse used by feminists is constantly growing..Social networks have also contributed to the creation of radical feminist movements, the most important of which is the Saudi feminist movement. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
At a time when public debates were almost non-existent on the traditional public platforms, people did not find a place or an opportunity to gather and support many different types of discourses that seek to change in political or social issues. Nowadays, this reality has altered with the emergence of social media. Constant discussions are being held, and these attract many users to interact, which, in turn, also provides alternatives to what used to be the case with traditional media. As believed by Interviewee 12:
The mere criticism of a tweet may knock on the door of one’s mind, one another, and many others, and form a chain of consciousness that necks the top of the pyramid of patriarchy little by little. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
Due to the growth of the collective consciousness in social media among Saudi users, many of the social practices have started to change as the previous interviewee claimed. It was apparent from a number of participants’ answers that the nature of the government in Saudi Arabia could also be a factor in this.
The participant mentioned below (Interviewee No. 9) noted that the impact of ruling officials on the users’ attitude, the patriarchalsystem of overseeing many aspects of the society’s practices, along with a high level of social conservatism did not allow many citizens a high level of engagement. Interviewees (such as No. 26 and 9) went on to argue that such change in Saudis’ engagement in social media affected the rise of opposing discourses for government and society to thrive. Participant 9 noted:
Yes, it is a fact for me in Saudi Arabia. There is high level of social conservatism because of the absence of spaces where public could engage in debate, as well as the apparent patriarchal system. We did not have windows for expressing social and political thoughts, which resulted in the youth being held by the reality created by state and society. To some extent, social media platforms broke this chain and gave foundation for alternative and opposite discourses to the previous era. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
According to participant 26,
In the past, it was the elite who led the discussion on issues selected by them and they decide on behalf of the oppressed groups which sufferings should be highlighted. Now the oppressed groups have platforms to speak directly about their suffering without an elite mediator. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
Another common factor in the answers of many participants was reference to the emergence of the Internet as a turning point. The Internet has redefined many concepts in Saudis’ lifestyle, and having a platform that unites their discourse has changed several users’ perception of their society. Interviewee No. 6 singled out the role played by Internet forums in encouraging the collective consciousness. It was the start for numerous gatherings, where people could share their views about the society and discuss diverse ways to provide solutions and influence the decision-makers in the country by reaching out to the masses to convince them of the need to reform. She believed that social engagement among Saudis was happening before the emergence of social media; topics like feminism and women’s rights were catching pace a while before.
Definitely, if we mention the impact, which even started since the beginning era of the Internet forums, these platforms allowed quite low level for discussion about women’s right. This debate did not just start with the emergence of social media, but it was an old discussion, which happened to expand with time. There is notable confusion that such debate has started along with rise of discourse about women guardianship abolishment movement in the country, and that not true; it did start a long time before and there is times that witnessed much more momentum than others, this specific period I could call is the era of Twitter. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
This activist participant, perceived these social network platforms from the point of view that similar to other activists; calming that social media sites in Saudi Arabia have presented activists in diverse humanitarian issues with the space to speak up on their concerns. Particularly the women rights, which have been transformed from the margin to the center of many domestic debates, as a result it is currently reflecting on the level of awareness among public.
Social networks contribute to the formulation of human rights discourse and highlight specific issues such as the issue of women and also the spread of awareness among a large segment of users.(Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
Saudi Arabia’s governance system, citizen rights, as well as the role of state are founded on the Basic Law that affirms the Quran and Sunnh as the constitution. Tribal customs and Islamic law (Sharia) determine the manner in which gender roles are assigned, and therefore, women’s rights are defined according to the rigid interpretation of these customs and laws. Women in Saudi Arabia do not view religion as the principal hindrance to their rights (Agarwal and Wigand, 2012). Rather, they consider the cultural construal – traditional and patriarchal – as the primary obstacles to women’s equality. A prime example is the driving ban for women. As Interviewee 12 previously noted, “I am afraid that I do not have any positive comments on these programs, and they are barely effective. The women’s right to drive. Women were drained until they acquire such right, and now they are paying expensive fees to get their license”. However, online campaigns, such as the Women2Drive (@Women2Drive), a social media campaign, affected the decision in women being allowed to drive themselves without any restrictions a few years later. The public campaign was a movement launched by Saudi women lobbying for the removal of the ban. They posted videos of themselves driving on YouTube to protest against the ban (Grigsby and Friedman, 2015). Some of the women were arrested and others compelled to sign documents as a vow to desist from further protests and driving. In spite of the intimidation and threats, women continued to film themselves, driving cars, and posted the videos online. According to Lim (2018), Western media categorized Women2Drive as a social media movement that lent women in Saudi Arabia a voice. He further reported that academic research unveils scholarly work that proves that digital activism revolutionised the women’s fight for fundamental human rights and equality.
Regarding the abolition of the guardian’s approval requirement for most services for women in May 2017, along with the permission to drive after sustained social media efforts to bring change, Interviewee 20 was of the following opinion:
Generally good, welcomed, with a simple opposition group, and this is normal because in such situations where certain ideas have been dominated for so long it is difficult to accept change in a short time, but over time it will. (Interviewee No. 20, female government official)
There was nearly consensus among the interviewed activists of the women’s rights discourse concerning the impact of social media on the pattern of collective consciousness among Saudi social media users. Moreover, those who represent the official point of view agreed that social media platforms accorded women the opportunity to unite and appear on the event detached from men, to seek a change in their status. In this regard, Interviewee 20 observed, “Women have expanded their perception and the current generation is able to connect with many cultures via such means.” Another official’s perspective was asked in this regard, and they presented a rather different angle. They think that Saudi Arabia is a country that is significantly different from any other country, in terms of the way it is structured and the unique nature of its people, which influences the process of decision-making. They believed solely in this fact that the government, since its establishment, usually enforces any type of reform in the country in a good manner; they examine their programs for change on the ground, despite the conservative nature of society and its reluctance to adopt changes.
The interviewee further stated that the government is the main supporter of the women empowerment programs in the country.
In Saudi Arabia, the government is always a step ahead of the society and at times it actually enforced some changes and this is true. Women’s education for example, was an official announcement even with the great number of opposition. The starting of many media outlets in the era of King Abdualaziz, the government was the one who enforced such reality even with society’s reluctance and engagement of the religious’ scholars to prevent the occurrence. The same could be applied on the women drive, also until recently many were pushing on the government not to allow many areas of women’s jobs to be wide open for public. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
6.4 Women’s Rights in the Narrator’s Voice: An Attempt to Reduce the Elites’ Manipulation
Social media in general and Twitter in particular has several potential orientations in terms of its applications and the manner of operation. These include advertising, news, public service, interpersonal matters, and politics, among others. When using Twitter, context and specificity are important in understanding usage value. This section presents the many varied modalities of Twitter within the context of political discourse around the subject of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Saudi women have endeavoured to use Twitter engagement initiatives to foster collaborative policy deliberation and demand for a more prominent role in the policy process. They have used Twitter as a mobilisation tool in response to specific news agendas, unfurling political processes and events, and the continuing need for women to speak in one voice to the Saudi public. These uses, or modalities, bring out Twitter as an indispensable addition to what Hutchins (2016) refers to as the “media ecology mix,” particularly with regard to women’s rights politics. The said modalities play a direct and important role in political strategies, communication, and action.
Even though the Internet has furnished a myriad of opportunities for users around the globe, many interview participants focused on the role of the new media in granting Saudi women the ability to move beyond a state, where there was almost no public discussion of its issues. Before Twitter, there was barely any debate on the high unemployment rates among women. The absence of women’s voice in the public opinion and the absence of their input in decision-making are some of the innumerable factors that have informed the high level of participation in this discourse on social media. Several of the interviewees noted that women have strived to change this state of affairs by gathering in solidarity in feminist related events in the country.
Other participants mentioned the rise of feminist ideas in Saudi Arabia. In this part, I focused on the responses that referred to the pattern of reform adopted by Saudi women in social media in their effort to pursue an alternative reality. The discrimination between men and women in many of life aspects is an ongoing debate in Saudi Arabia. The participant cited below offered their perception of the situation, saying that one of the reasons behind their efforts to activist for such rights is their lack of understanding of the cultural context that permits males the right to engage in several life activities without being harassed, while females must endure endless difficulties to fulfill their basic needs. The respondent also noted that such practices could affect women psychologically, which they believed was one of the significant reasons that led many to participate in this discourse. One important notion that emerged from this participant’s answer regarding an extremely popular social network platform is that such discourses are not supposed to have an immediate impact.
According to Interviewee 12, the online discourse merely constitutes the continued refusal to recognise the reality of Saudi women’s lives, which is something the participant is reluctant to accept. They noted:
Since I was young, I could not grasp such an unjust situation. All these activities from my parents, my brother and the small circle around me; I did not understand why my brother can do whatever he can but not me, and I did not do anything wrong (…) It does not depend on the level of impact me or other feminists have on the women situation discourse in the platforms, it is mainly a constant statement of refusal. I won’t accept this situation at all. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
Medium and modality characteristics are central to the understanding of how Twitter can be used in influencing audiences. Traditional media comprises principally of print media (magazines and newspapers) and broadcast media (such as radio and television) that are identified by editing practices that include transition, cut, pace, image quality, and screen size.
Digital platforms such as Twitter are not restricted by the above and include additional capacities such as interactivity, agency, and navigability (Bracken and Dalessandro, 2017). Twitter makes it easier for users to interact with influencers. Having a regional defence line that talks about women’s issues has empowered social media users and given them a far-reaching context. The interviewees talked about the rare opportunities for interaction with women on the ground that makes it possible to advocate for issues on social media because she claimed that Twitter neither discriminates against their activities nor puts barriers on the level of reform they are seeking to achieve. Interviewee 30 remarked:
My interest in the women’s rights in general, and in the Arab world specifically, made me engage in this debate and I think it is the only discourse that could be singled out as mainly existing in social media and I could participate in it. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
The male participant, whose response has been presented below, involved in the discourse related to women’ rights provided his view of the engagement, saying that such an activity is morally motivated and every user on social media should interact with such ideas. The participant argued that significant change in the country could not be achieved without highlighting women’s issues and providing relevant solutions. He emphasised this as one of the biggest obstacles that Saudis face in their daily lives. Such direct impact made him regard it as a key discourse on social media platforms. Interviewee 11, noted:
I firmly believe in these rights that have been debated, and secondly, I think the role of people like me in supporting such ideas is important for the society. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
A Saudi woman who uses social media feels a strong bond with other female users, and this underlines the important interaction modality of Twitter. This interviewee imagined the sort of solidarity that could be developed between users through constant interaction and engagement by sharing similar ideas. They were of the view that such strong feelings should be able to overcome the struggle of the previous generations and allow everyone to unite as one group to face the oppression women are being subjected to. The respondent thought that it should be mandatory for them to engage in this discourse because their morals force them to express their disagreement with the current situation and unanimity is what they are trying gain to via this interaction.
It is obligatory, since I have always felt a strong connection between us, and my realisation for the level of oppression we are exposing to (…) as a result I do not want any unjust treatment to happen to any women. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
Some of the participants in the reform discourse are conservative, exercise limited expression due to fear of being persecuted. Another interviewee insisted that the feminist discourse in Saudi Arabia is very fruitful and contains many intersectional ideas, and because of that, it has garnered tremendous popularity. They further shed light on an aspect that was not apparent in other similar discourses, that is, the ability of this discourse to talk about some of the minorities in the society, such as the LGBT community.
Many regard this as a new subject and it barely appeared in the agenda of others, with the exception being the one on feminism presented below:
It touched me personally, as a homosexual, a person of speaking struggles, and unsocial. I could see the oppression from the society on the women more than many males. As a result, I was attracted to the feminism discourse. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
It was not surprising to obtain answers from some of the participants advocating the feminist discourse about being victims of such regulations pertaining to the women in the country, which led them to believe that such an increase in this particular discourse was the only proper reaction. Interviewee 26 talked about her personal experience dealing with authorities and how such occurrences impact her life and the way they are seen in society. This issue has reached much bigger social circles and has the potential to cause an individual to seek a total isolation. Interviewee 26 stressed their desire to help others and especially women experiencing similar situations.
After I became a feminist, most of the oppression I had to endure became more logical, which made me deal with it in a much more strong manner, since then I wished to transform this emotions to women, knowing very well it will make them become much stronger. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
Another interviewee mentioned social media’s ability to host discourses about human rights. The Saudi case provided women with new prospects by allowing greater interaction between men and women in a society that segregates the genders in many places, which has resulted in the development of relationships between them via these platforms. Below are the participant’s views:
Technology played a vital role in establishing and developing the discourse, because technology could provide an open space for debate and discussion that was never been allowed before between males and females, which I think resulted in narrowing the gap between them or at least creating a much healthier environment.(Interviewee No. 17, female activist)
On the side of the official group of interviewees, a comment appears that refers to the diversity in terms of exchanging views on social media as being a means to bridge the gap between many sets of society. Since there are those who are pro-change and opposing groups, such differences could affect the values of the current society. They proposed a new approach that discusses matters in a healthy manner, without abuse.
I do not recognise one particular approach that claims to represent women’s rights. There are those who held very conservative views about women and the opposite with total liberation. I am in the middle. Anything that values our religious ideas and does not hold any old traditions that are no longer modern; I want a healthy partnership between men and women. (Interviewee No. 24, female government official)
Overall, for men and women in Saudi Arabia who have embraced the digital life, it is no longer a question of whether to use online communication modalities bestowed by social networking platforms such as Twitter. Rather, online interaction and discussion have become an indispensable and important part of people’s social lives because they permit them to move easily between different mediums or even use them simultaneously. The recent development of Twitter as a collaborative and distributed commons can be attributed to the hastened pace of societal and political change in Saudi Arabia, as well as the acceptance and uptake of virtual participation through social media. In fact, the notions of interaction and discussion have transformed considerably due to the various modalities accorded by social media.
6.5 The Normative Change
The constant exposure of large social groups to a significant amount of knowledge that contradicts prevalent social norms, which were adopted in earlier times, have resulted in notable case of change in the way of thinking regarding particular issues. While such constant exposure could impact the type of norms practiced by one group, it will not necessarily change their values. Moreover, such changes in norms do not impact one particular individual, although it is a social phenomenon that engages many people, who share the same experiences and aspire for the same outcomes (Etzkowitz, 2011).
The situation of awareness concerning women’s issues, which participants were questioned about in this stage, is considerably similar to this scientific model. While there were a number of participants who recognised changes in the way many users perceive women, there are groups still reluctant to describe the current situation in Saudi Arabia as a normative social transformation.
This participant mentioned that the change we are witnessing in Saudi Arabia with regard to women’s discourse, the rise of feminist content on Twitter, has resulted greatly in the receding of many backward ideas in society and boosted the level of public awareness in the country.
There is radical change that is slowly taking place. When following the feminism discourse on Twitter in the last few years, I noticed rise in term of users reaction towards such ideas than when it appeared at first, although if the feminism discourse continues to gain momentum, we will witness change in society. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
In their response, this activist measured the level of awareness, saying it is rising at the moment, as they believe that the discourse has reached many groups in society which, till recently, were quite reluctant to change their views in this matter, such as the elderly. They suggested that human rights are not anymore novel concepts and there are many individuals now who endorse similar thoughts.
I think the level of public awareness has risen even among the lower class individuals. The idea that discussions about rights is becoming widely acceptable is one of the significant successes in this era; the spread of ideas that discuss women’s issues in a rather conservative society is quite development. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
It cannot be dismissed that considerable agreement was seen among many participants in this series of interviews that the current era in the lives of Saudis are knowing huge rise in the level of awareness among different groups. This participant emphasised in their answer that this rise became extremely obvious for many, and they hope that such awareness transfers to the neighbouring countries in the Gulf, as people in this region share many similarities. Having a constant discussion will raise the level of seriousness in dealing with women’s issues in general.
It is rapidly growing, and to which I hope it will reach for Gulf countries where are many people are avoiding debates on this subject and there is submission to constantly dodging this discussion. (Interviewee No.21, female activist)
While debate about Saudi women and their rights is witnessing daily growth on social media platforms according to this participant, they also mentioned a new perception not explored by other participants: The difference between the discourse on social media and the situation women are facing every day on the ground. This reality made them doubt the truth about this rise in the imminent awareness on women’s issue; she suggested an in-depth program that enhances the level of awareness in the society.
If you read through the Twitter scene, there is clearly difference between the level of awareness in social media and the kind of news that been discussed in traditional media outlets, which represents the reality and also an indicator about the way the society is thinking nowadays. I think there is significant different between reality and virtual. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
Another participant who did not hide their satisfaction in the transformation of women’s situation in the last few years, she perceived a gigantic leap in the pattern of social’s thought and interactions with women rights. This development, as she emphasised, is transpiring these days at least in theory but not in practice, nonetheless that is going to happen at some point as she claimed.
The public awareness is very great and one of the main reasons I am really delighted about. The community around has changed theoretically I would say. (Interviewee No. 18, female activist)
Some of the interviewees’ sensed improvement in the way Saudis are intervening in discussions about women’s rights in many circles. Besides the need for all women in the country to adopt such ideas and spread them in their groups, she asserted that such move could gain the greatest ground, and inevitably lead to change in Saudi Arabia.
I am satisfied, but the coming years it is going to be very crucial, especially within women. (Interviewee No.25, female activist)
Government supported women empowerment programs will impact the level of awareness among Saudis. This participant highlighted that there has been a significant rise in the societal level of awareness of such discourses. However, she said that there is some sort of official delay in acknowledging this change, in fear of outrage from one particular group as she claimed that many conservatives are at unease when address the increase in awareness about women’s rights and believes it is a challenging situation for them.
There is quite jump in the level of public awareness, and it is on rise as well. Today unlike in the past, many are saying that they are with women’s rights, but against feminism. This is an advancement I think, because we used to have discussion about the validity of girls’ high school education in the past, and such thing is no longer existed. In general, it is on the rise and reform is happening in a rapid way. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
This official participant provided their assessment of current public awareness about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, by recalling the previous reality. He claimed in their answer that the major reason for not having healthy debates and increased awareness about this topic is the control from significant groups in the past. The first are conservatives who tried their best to control every aspect of women’s life, and the second are liberals, who seek to enforce their open-minded ideas upon the society without any consideration for the social or cultural contexts. Although this participant thought the current situation is much more understanding and accommodating of women’s needs and the role they can play for society.
The women’s situation in the country is the victim of two groups. In particular, the ongoing debate between the conservatives and liberals. Midst these two groups many women’s rights have vanished and even rights for the public in general. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
6.6 Radical, Intersectional and Popular: How Women’s Discourse is Bridging the Knowledge Gap
The intersectionality aspect of women’s discourse in social media could be regarded as one of the most notable features of those who participate in it, an aspect that widely reflect on the level of popularity and the type of radical demands that could be presented by such discourse. While there are a number of users focusing on women’s rights exclusively, many are also adopting intersectional ideas towards many issues and voicing their desire for immediate change. Collective identity means the connection between user and cultural identity as a system, and through this, individuals usually develop an ability to even co-participate in events that seek social change (Brown, Ray, Summers and Fraistat, 2017).
Such new approaches in engaging in discourses related to social change in Saudi Arabia is similar to others that have been adopted by many activists in this era. The discourse about Black Lives Matter influenced the movements on the ground and young activists are changing the methods the political discourse adopted by black activists in the 50s and 60s were employing. Now, they are using new technologies to the utmost to voice their ideas and declare solidarity with many issues, which has resulted in creating a community that centered-on individuals on the margin (Jackson, 2016).
In this part, I examined the discourse’s ability to find links among users, their area of interests, how it affects the type of content they share, and if it is reflected on the official decisions announced by the government. The participant (No. 13) mentioned below these links from an educational perceptive; they believe that the major aspect of the influence on official decisions is based on the fact that most of those involved in the discourse are knowledgeable and possess the necessary information to face any dilemma or barrier in a united manner, without being forced into altering their demands. The participants also mentioned that the radical content they produce, which seeks immediate change, is the main reason this discourse is so impactful.
Besides there is a huge level of adoption for such ideas these days, because it is a radical discourse, it created some sort of solidarity among women and became a much more effective tool in the society which threatens the patriarchal system in country. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
The nature of the adopted discourse in regard women’s right in social media platforms, not only according to this female participant allows users to express rather radical ideas about their stance from numerous local issues, but also exceeds to create a pattern of unity in regard of many global matters; since it is discus issues of women around the world, constantly review many concepts that been debated among users and even reflects on the discourse they are adopting to ensure its modernity and in context with current reality of their issues.
One of the most important benefits is raising awareness among women first, and creating a state of solidarity and organization that will benefit the feminist discourse by taking advantage of other experiences and adding a kind of unification to the multiple voices existed. Especially by enabling it to achieve wide and rapid spaces and by creating an interactive network that contributes to the unification of the discourse and benefit from the experiences of others, also provide criticism to improve it and increase its effectiveness. As well as to made it part of a broader and more comprehensive discourse at the level of the Arab region. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
One of the features inferred from several answers was that many participants felt that the intersectional content in this discourse is the primary reason that various issues have been highlighted in society. This interviewee maintains that the women’s rights discourse managed to expand the discussion from being only about education or jobs and so avoided disregarding several other obstacles that stand in women’s way on a daily basis.
The benefits of such a discourse did not only happen for Saudi women, it is also reaching others. We managed to highlight many issues that were ignored at the time while many were only focusing on formal education and women employment. (Interviewee No. 21, female activist)
Activists who are highly active in the women’s rights discourse provided an interesting observation in different responses. They emphasised that part of the reaction they got from the officials is down to the discourse’s ability to attract masses. This interviewee (No. 11) believed that the most relevant and easy way to engage in this discourse encouraged many affected users to participate regularly and in large numbers. According to the interviewee, this contrasts their absence (almost entirely) from the traditional media platforms in the past, where they were prevented from reaching out to officials directly.
The relatively easy access to reach for high number Internet users, which resulted in attracting a high level of interaction, especially under the current state where the government control the traditional media outlets, is one of the most important advantages for social media. In addition, the users’ ability to engage in discourse and prove impact, without reveal their actual names. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
The impact of this discourse on the current situation in Saudi Arabia from this participant’s perceptive (No. 23) is due to one minor detail: the need to define what is feminism in the region and who are abusing women in general. The ability of this discourse to point out that males are privileged and women are victims of such a reality is its improvement. Feminism in Saudi Arabia has managed, through this wide framework, to have an impact on social media users, and as a result engage in a movement that seeks to change regulations or laws, this is in accordance to this participant’s claim. She believed that the culture Saudis lives in need to be considered to ensure that such a discourse is to be influential, in addition to the fact that its cause is just.
The feminism discourse is more than able to attract followers regularly because it is a just cause. However, basing on the idea that every woman is struggling, as a way to attract engagement, is a method that needs to be more engaged with. (Interviewee No. 23, female activist)
The sense of solidarity whenever a related story is shared on these platforms, is one of the most significant characteristics of this discourse. This participant imagined that the aspect of impact on that government is through the sense of solidarity created by women’s rights discourse in Saudi Arabia. This resulted in a change in the definition of what is personal in the eyes of the users, and what is to stressed as political. Such power, that is, being able to change concepts, is one of the major impacts on public opinion in the Gulf country as claimed by this interviewee.
The advantages of such rise is women realisation that they are not alone; the pattern of sharing stories, enhanced the possibility of transforming issues from personal level to a political level in both women’s and the public’s awareness. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
6.7 Women’s Rights, Domestic and Global Context
Information communication technology (ICT) defines individual’s ability to access information with new technologies (Christensson, 2010), which have become much more associated with the state of social media users in this era. This space provides Saudi users the ability to start a discourse that seeks reforms in terms of the type of lifestyle they are leading, and to gain support for their demands, as well as to be much more involved with the situation in the neighbouring countries not to mention the rapid changes occurring in the region.
“Their access to the new media allows them to compare their poor situations and living conditions with those fortunate others among their own countrymen who are members of a privileged ethnic, sectarian, political, or regime‐connected group” (Aman and Jayroe, 2013 p. 319).
The connection with the global approach of putting forward demands, especially matters related to women’s rights, has made many activists stand firm whenever they engage in discussions that relate to women’s reality in Saudi Arabia: This activist claimed that social media platforms have helped to shed the light on many issues and at the same time prevented the developing of others. She would stated that the quick approach to gain engagement with any matter, have resulted tremendously on the women rights reality in the country.
I don’t want to be naive nor I would turn a blind eye, but social media platforms have an unrivalled impact around the world; when you witnessed 50000 users engaged in one hashtag to provide help for an abused woman, such gesture changed many perceptions. Twitter for example saved a lot of girls. The sharing of such topics on Twitter took the matter into a much global context. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
There is a question that has been circulating on social media regarding the impact of events that occurred close by in the region. This participant saw a wide range of connections between the discourse that is being adopted by Saudis on social media and especially those related to the women’s situation with one of the most influential events that happened in that last decade. The Arab Spring, according to this interviewee, on the one hand affected the definition of the relationship between women’s rights activists and their agenda, and on the other hand brought the official entities back to a reality they have been largely distant from, for instance, by allowing much more engagement by the public in the decision making process. Participant No. 6 (below) thought that the women’s rights discourse was primarily witnessed right after the occurrence of the Arab Spring.
I set up my account in Twitter back in 2011, primarily it was for reaching out to friends and family. A year later I set up a new account and started a new form of participation because of my affection with the Arab Spring. Was there any feminist movement at that time? Yes, many activists were greatly involved with the women’s situation in the region, although the main difference from today’s discourse, they were thinking that civil rights movements are the umbrella for all aspects of acquiring rights. Not the case mostly in today’s discussion. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
Social media in its current state is mirroring the reality, as emphasised by this interviewee (No. 11) who is engaged in the women empowerment discourse. These demands would not have reached all these users if they were not a reality that women face on a daily basis and are being forced to deal with constantly as he stated. The emergence of these platforms gave the related discourse the ability to spread, and ultimately have a direct impact on the lives of Saudis as he claims, which lent a new dimension to the relationship between the groups within the society and women’s rights activists’ engagement with their matters as mentioned.
Personally I don’t want to distinguish between the reality and virtual. When a woman wants to change her reality, it would mean that she is facing a situation that intervenes with the basic needs of her life. Today you can sense such reality by looking into the movement related to women discourse. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
This user, who is an activist of women’s rights, forwarded a new idea while acknowledging that social media platforms help many topics to surface among the public. However, some participants insisted that mere discussion would not solve women’s issues in the country. Problems arise frequently, and the barriers women face in many aspects of their lives are countless. She mentioned that the reality had not changed much, since many women who are active on social media related discourse are barely able to reveal their true identity, in fear of their families’ reaction or persecution.
Redefining the current reality regarding women in the country needs a number of factors that are absent in today’s world. For example, transforming social media discourse to the ground by reaching out for groups not active on social media, raising awareness by organizing activities seminars on large scale. I think any of that in the effort to redefine the current reality would be faced with regulations that prevent any space for women to improve.(Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
A number of answers from participants who represent the official point of view in this data claimed that their constant engagement either on a personal or parliamentary level was an effort to change the reality of women’s rights in the country. One particular interviewee said she had played a part in a major campaign to seek change within the official entities regulations for years. They further pointed out their efforts during her time as an MP to support every project that enhanced women’s empowerment, so that the society could move towards a healthier relationship between men and women in many aspects.
In my position as a member of the parliament, I stood with every petition that wanted rebalancing of the relationship with women; at family level, social level, and within official entities. (Interviewee No. 14, female government official)
Another official participant said that they played a role way before the emergence of social media by constant engagement through writing columns and participating in public forums to recreate the public image about the supposed role for women in society, and has establish a foundation through her job as a faculty member in the university to raise awareness among students about the importance of changing the community’s perception in that regard.
Through my weekly column in Aljazirah newspaper, I have written many columns about social matters, particularly family and women. Besides my constant appearance in events related to women, I also have my own publications, which have focused on women’s matters. (Interviewee No.10, female government official)
This official participant accentuated that government programs to empower women always focused on enhancing the level of women’s representation in several government departments. Being allowed to take full advantage of their position is the way some of the official interviewees wanted to enforce the nature of reforms in Saudi Arabia. They claimed that the first step towards change is the abolition of all kinds of discrimination related to employing qualified women for any job, which would result in the creation of an environment that would allow both genders to participate equally.
As I have worked in different government positions, I had always prioritized aiding Saudi women, in the university, ministry and even while working in the private sector. Empowering and employing talented women by giving them proper training, enhancing their work skills and trusting their ability to develop in the work field. (Interviewee No. 20, female government official)
This response from a male participant in the same official group concerned the importance of the role-played by the parliament through its members by ensuring women’s representation in all reports and petitions raised by MPs. He mentioned an important aspect of engaging the officials with reality and discourses that had developed on social media. He suggested that it was their duty to bring such issues to the parliament’s attention and to not shelve them without any revision and discussion. He claimed that the role of parliament regarding enriching the debate about women’s rights helped redefine several of her roles in society.
Many of the reports from several government entities that were related to the women’s situation, brought up for debate in many occasions, besides different government projects were presented by MPs according to the 23rd article, and all these projects were related to women. (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
6.8 News/Information Consumption
Social media outlets have played an essential and decisive role in transforming society in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is one of the world’s largest markets for Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. It has become a veritable powerhouse of social media consumption. Social networks have become an extremely popular channel to remain updated on the latest news. The international rate in the use of social media currently stands at 13% yearly, and Saudi Arabia leads the global tally with an exponential annual growth rate of 32% (Radcliffe and Bruni, 2018). Consequently, Saudi Arabia has the most prominent social media presence globally, with 43.80 million mobile subscribers. Radcliffe and Bruni (2018) reported that 84% of Saudi Arabians reside in urban areas, where fast Internet connections are available and a high level of smartphone usage and ownership is present. According to statistics, there are approximately 23 million active social media users, constituting 67.95% of the entire population (Radcliffe and Bruni, 2018). On average, a Saudi spends three hours on social media per day. Research findings also indicate that Saudis comprise the most significant percentage of active users on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram.
The presence of social media enables users to express themselves openly, and this challenges the mainstream media, which appears to be more controlled and regulated by the Saudi government. For instance, the Shiite minority employs these platforms to incite protests against the government; and female activists took their campaign to social media demanding the right to drive cars, and it was a success eventually (Grigsby and Friedman, 2015). Social network users not only access these platforms to seek information but also to speak boldly on controversial issues in society and express views that they cannot voice publicly. A participant was asked whether social sites have provided room for users to engage in emerging social discourses. They explained earlier that social networks have provided individuals a space to hold and express their opinions.
There were not so many social and political windows for expression. Youth were subject to the values of society and state, but social media platforms changed that and created alternative discourses for the situation.(Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
Interestingly, different demographics consume news and information on social media sites differently. For instance, the youth primarily uses social networks for entertainment purposes such as chatting and connecting with friends online. Young adults are more willing to incur higher costs for fast Internet connections as they prioritise immediacy in their online interactions and communications (Althiabi, 2017). Men use the Internet to access news and information more than women, and this is not surprising because Saudi Arabia has a patriarchal system.
With the increase in the consumption of information and news on social media sites, there is also the hazard of spreading fake news. Radcliffe and Bruni (2018) show that a Reuter’s analysis revealed a network of 53 websites impersonating authentic Arabic language news outlets. The sites spread false information that was believable to consumers, especially news about the Saudi Arabian government and how recent events could cause instability for the official establishment by amplifying Twitter bots (Radcliffe and Bruni, 2018). Consumption of fake news is on the rise in Saudi Arabia. Radcliffe and Bruni (2018) further report that as of May 2018, 28% of Arabic tweets were from bots, an increase from 17% in the previous year. Therefore, while social media can act as an incubator for the formation and spreading of political information, it presents a platform where some people also weaponise it as an effective delivery system for hate speech, propaganda, and fake news. One participant said they think that they should raise awareness primarily where there is a spread of misinformation. She believed that the role presented by social media for Saudis and women in particular, is to engage heavily with any news and information being presented on behalf of the society. Claiming that by taking the leading role in this area, we could prevent any type of misrepresentation, ensure the right image is painted, and provoke the proper topics into the table of discussion.
For me, when a debate has arisen on a subject, it is itself insufficient. I do not care to turn my account into a field to raise awareness of any issue, but I like to raise the debate and provoke public opinion around me. One of the things that I see works, I remember a woman who wrote an article in the New York Times claiming that she was like a queen in Saudi Arabia. These things are important to me, which is to raise the influence of patriarchy and misinformation on the topics of women in Saudi Arabia from all segments of society. Provoking public opinion, raising awareness as I think. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
Another crucial concept related to news and information consumption by women is the level of scalable privacy and scalable sociality on social media platforms. Scalable sociality is used for online spaces to differentiate more public ones from private ones. According to research results from a survey conducted by Aljuwaiser (2018), the participants, who represented the Saudi women population, considered Twitter to be extremely public, while Facebook was viewed as semi-public, and Instagram as having the utmost privacy. The different platforms of spreading and consuming news and information determine women’s practices in various online spheres. For instance, the online presence and identities of Saudi women differ in their representation on social sites in terms of biographies and pictures displayed. When asked about the activities they engage in on their Twitter account, one participant explained how they take advantage of the scalable sociality of twitter.
Twitter is my window to the world and my personal space in which I express my views and perceptions, away from the narrowing of socio-political reality. My activities revolve around the pressures of daily life. I have participated in the feminist discourse because of its vitality and it was distanced from the spotlight range for some time. My activities have cantered on my personal and feminist ideas. I have expanded my activities to express my views on sexuality, the West, social freedoms, social order, and economic. (Interviewee No. 9, male activist)
6.9 Summary of Key Findings and Insights
In this second chapter, the data concerning Saudis’ relationship with the virtual world and the transformations in their lifestyle after major interaction via social media platforms was analysed. With regard to the importance of social media in terms of organising and enriching the women empowerment discourse, through Twitter in particular, I initially explored the type of activities users engage in, especially those who dedicate their accounts to this particular discourse, for instance, by presenting their life experiences and gaining more followers to support their cause. In the first part, through the interviewees’ viewpoint, it was studied how social media platforms allowed many social groups to engage with others with quite new ideologies, which resulted in the creation of a new space for discussion. The second part focused on the aspect of reform through such platforms, the influence of the Arab Spring on the way Saudis in social media intervene with political and social events in the region and how it reflects on their domestic issues. The third part moved to the debate on the motivations behind such usage of social media, why Saudi women have used this platform to the maximum in their effort to spread the discourse related to women’s rights and present feminism to Saudis. Moreover, in the fourth part, I examined the interviewees’ answers regarding the normative changes in the mindset of Saudi users on the subject of women’s issues in the country. The fifth part focused on the user’s ability to attract engagement from different sets in the society and the rising discourses’ power on social media to gain organisational involvement on an international level, to further their reach. The sixth section concerned Saudis’ virtual activities, covered a considerably wider aspect of usage, which involved the users’ attitude in terms of engaging with events and being exposing to news. While previously the only source for information was traditional media, and accessing knowledge was an act that was mostly available to only a certain set of the society, the leap in technological advancement, as many activists believed, thrust on the country an era of rapid changes that deeply invaded the lives of many Saudis and especially Saudi women, as my analysis revealed in the last part of this chapter.
Digital activism was vibrant in Saudi Arabia as it was the only alternative available to Saudi women to engage in discourses that are otherwise difficult to conduct in physical spaces due to the high punitive restrictions and the immense social and religious barriers presented by the Saudi administration and society, respectively. The cyberactivism space in Saudi Arabia appeared to be dominated by young well-educated and well-informed Saudi women, who were the majority and most active participants in online women empowerment discourses. Moreover, this cohort of women was braver than their older and rural counterparts, who may be considered to be conformists in the Saudi society. Nonetheless, while the cyberactivists were few, the network was large because it comprised of Saudi and other women from foreign countries, who were sympathetic to the empowerment course of the average Saudi woman. In turn, although significant change was slow and mainly along economic empowerment, many Saudi women were still hopeful of the progression toward more political and social empowerment, although they were sceptical that such reforms would reach the standards of more advanced countries.
In the following chapter, I aim to analyse the participants’ responses from both groups. This will focus on their ideas regarding the government’s interaction with social media, to establish how both groups react to the rising calls to implement further regulations that oversee the users’ practices on these websites.
The role-played by social media in contribution to altering the image of Saudi society and how social media use is affecting the way the government rules the Gulf country. I will focus on each side’s story on the government’s interaction with the subject of women empowerment and the narratives that dominate the scene.
7 Chapter 7: Social Media Usage and The Saudi Government’s Interaction With Ongoing Discourses
7.1 Introduction
The academic debate about government’s intervention on the manner which discourses are developing in social media and the constant effort to manipulate the context of news or influencing public opinion is increasingly becoming attractive for many researchers. Saudi Arabia, since it is notably one of the leaders in term of social media usages, are becoming subject of discussion for the way its official establishment has engaged in using such platforms and communicating with the public.
The Saudi officials’ usage for social media is under vast an increasing number of studies as an effort to breakdown the approach adopted by the government to impact the public stance concerning domestic and international matters. In the current environment, many are starting to study the Saudi role of trying to create a usage pattern that does not differ significantly with government opinion. The women’s situation is one of the most critical issues nationally and continuously able to recreate itself in the social media platforms while engaging different groups in the process.
In the last chapter, the data collected on the women’s rights discourse and its practices in social media platforms were analysed. This chapter focuses on the influence of this discourse on the government’s interaction with developing discourses in social media and in particular issues related to women. While in the previous chapter, the focus was on examining the type of changes Saudis are experiencing in social media, the way its affected their civil engagement, and how they assess the current situation with regard to women’s rights, this chapter offers an in-depth explanation of the government’s intervention and changes regarding women’s position and how it is reflected on social media by users.
7.2 Regulated Twitter
The widespread use of new technologies was accompanied by many changes in the terms of interaction and relationships between individuals as well as among institutes, since policy makers are focused on introducing new regulations that formalise the practices within this new public sphere. There are numerous areas in which social media delves, such as privacy, freedom of expression, and even official representation, which has resulted in many urging for the creation of new laws to regulate these aspects (Obar and Wildman, 2015). In regions similar to the Gulf states with authoritarian rule, the official entities are often afraid of losing control on the way the public thinks, and thus, they constantly quell any rising discourse that could be regarded as threatening. Thus, in the Gulf region, the process of producing regulations for cybercrimes is fast and for other similar processes it is rapidly growing (Ahamd, 2017).
The first respondent regarding the question of government’s relation with social media and how it is practicing a mentoring role as well as putting regulations was a former member of the parliament. They thought that activating programs that aim to solve women’s issues in the country is the first step that the government should take to ensure they can control any opposing discourse that disagrees with the government approach. She continued by saying that new regulations overseeing the shared content and certifying the validity of such discussions on social media platforms should be introduced. Such an effort by officials would ensure to make the discourse in social media, in line with the government programs as she emphasized.
Yes. And this is what is happening on the ground now, activating the initiative of women’s empowerment and implementations supported by the force of law through the institution of the judiciary. (Interviewee No. 14, female government official)
It is the officials’ duty to interact with the reasonable demands presented by users on social media, as mentioned by this official participant. She believed that such interaction does not prevent the creation of new regulations that aim to organize the use of social media; it will ensure that there is no abuse of the services by any user.
Discourses based on sound principles that do not contradict with Islamic law and the state system can be discussed. The demands to enable women to obtain their rights, guaranteed by Sharia, law and order. Many users must be educated on how to obtain their rights. Although media has a big role in this, I acknowledged that the official authorities when they give half of the society their rights, it will contribute to the process of development significantly and raise the economy of the country and thus improve the status of the family. (Interviewee No. 19, female government official)
According to this participant, new media is comprised by not fully developed features and needs considerable revisiting in many aspects. They thought that such platforms need legal intervention in order to regulate some of the user practices, as he claimed that they constantly abuse their usages. Introducing new laws will greatly enhance users’ experience according to this participant.
The features of this new space have not been dealt with legally or ethically with some sort of discipline and the door is still wide-open in this area, now some regulations have been set by regulatory bodies, and to some extent contributed to restrain some aspects in the issue of indiscriminate sharing. (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
This participant spoke about their understanding of the way users’ interaction on social media should be treated. Roles and terms of usages on these social media platforms should be based on what is socially prohibited as well as what is illegal. He believed that this is a dilemma facing the authorities. He strongly mentioned the need to have a law that allows the consideration of social values in debates and interactions.
You have the right to express your opinion and this is a requirement, but so that you do not clash with the law and do not use it to cause disorder. This is a social issue that is linked to everyone and must be taken into account. (Interviewee No. 2, male government official)
Social media features barely censored thoughts whenever it targets users who are not well informed, which is a claim made by this participant. Engaging in discourse that could result in confrontation with authority, without much knowledge from users is a growing problem. In their response, this participant urged the government to intervene to organise proper public relations measures with social media platforms, in addition to establishing a new entity that observes such social phenomena and seeks solution for them.
The problem of social networks, it is a sea of ideas and it is possible that those who adopt a certain discourse, do not necessarily believe in it. Always these thorny issues which the government is keen to deal with formally. What I hope for is to establish a ministry or an official institution dealing with the family which I think would make it the official front responsible for everything related to women’s empowerment. (Interviewee No. 3, male government official)
Similar to the previous response, another official participant, who thought that social media platforms have become a space for sharing ideas that could majorly influence recipients and ultimately impact society. Claiming that currently, when there are so many debates between different groups and ideologies, it can become toxic for the users, and thus official establishments need to intervene and introduce regulations.
I think there is a conflict between the users, there is some users like a sponge, receives everything directly. Some ideas were reprehensible, but with time they became accepted and then known and gradually became a habit. There is also a clear state of conflict between some groups in social networking platforms, supporters and opponents. (Interviewee No. 8, male government official)
This official participant perceived the need for government intervention in this matter and formulation of new laws that regulate users’ activity on social media, because such platforms have become a space for extreme ideologies. They stated that many teenagers are also exposed to unsupervised content and can be drawn to terrorist activities, since many of these organisations operate on social media and use them for recruitment. Regulations have become a necessity he claimed.
The Arab Spring has greatly affected the Arabs and Saudis in particular, because of the problems that have occurred in more than one Arab country and not everyone who participates in this discourse consciously cautious. There are users who have been attracted to extremist ideas through these platforms. There are examples of young men tweeting about ordinary issues, and suddenly they joined ISIS. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
This ex-member of the parliament believed that social media should always be associated with freedom of expression, although they mentioned that such freedom should be conditioned to not attack moral and social values. Furthermore, the government should perform their assigned duties through such platforms, to serve the public properly. The official engagement that addresses the society’s needs, and does not only aim to monitor participation on these platforms is what is needed according to him.
I believe that, from my point of view, these platforms should be free of expression and not restricted, unless they are legal matters, and within the framework of social values. Secondly, the official authorities have the duty to follow up on all matters published in their jurisdiction and to give them the right attention, in addition to being the duty of the governmental institution in the first place, if we agree that the civil servant is a servant of the community, and thus serve the community through touching its issues and needs. I think that every government agency should not disregard usage of social media platforms, especially Twitter, so that it analyses and communicates with people. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
This was repeated in the responses of some the official groups, who mentioned the role of the government in interacting with the discourses developing on social media. This participant said that the government should be obliged to listen to the discourses on social media and take them seriously, submitting to reasonable demands, although it should also oversee what debates are growing and ensure that no laws or religious or social values are ridiculed.
Here we are faced with the problem of determining what is the good and what is the bad, of these discourses (…) I have certain stages and filters need to be passed though, the most important of which is the religion filter, therefore, if religion allows it, we should enable women to perform their duties in a neutral manner. (Interviewee No.5, female government official)
Again, we sensed in one of the official participant’s response their desire for the government to implement new laws for social media usage. Although they focused on another aspect of the rising discourses, justifying such interventions on the notion that most of the rhetoric adopted in social media is driven by Western thoughts that do not represent the nature of the society. She suggested that the regulation of these platforms would help address the significant aspect of reforms.
Such open space allowed so many people from outside the country to speak about rather domestic matters regarding women especially and they have very notable impact; by siding with one particular issue over another. Using anonymous users or even at some occasion their real names, which is very influential, since most of those who interact with similar discourses are young users. It is highly risky for culture, values and behaviour. (Interviewee No. 27, female government official)
7.3 Political Participation in Undemocratic State
Social media platforms offer a wide and open space for many users to participate and think politically. This has resulted in social media reshaping the way many individuals and groups think. It has impacted political participation in many countries (Fenton and Barassi, 2011).
The second part of this chapter presents an analysis of interview participants’ answers about the truth behind changes in decisions and regulations due to individuals and government entities’ participation in social media. Such platforms have given Saudi people the opportunity to express themselves better in front of the world, as this previous member of parliament described in their response. They affirmed that such platforms have opened the space for especially women to participate in the political process and gain official representation, besides allowing them to engage in dialogue with other women or social groups.
It provided a platform for women to directly express their feelings, their abilities, needs, aspirations and suffering as well as the opportunity to start a dialogue with its equals and other groups. (Interviewee No. 14, female government official)
This new technological introduction in the lives of Saudis has made social media platforms a place where a new form of political participation for Saudis could arise. According to this official participant, he claimed that such thing happens from its ability to provide users a space to discuss sensitive issues, which was barely done in the past. Social media sites can be the site for the birth of public opinion and reform events he stated.
It has an influential role; the topics are becoming more daring than in the traditional media. Of course! (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
Another official participant believed that social media played a major role in influencing some of the political decisions in the country. They cited the Saudi women’s usage of social media platforms to the maximum to ensure their political engagement in the country, agreeing to the view that the wide adoption of social media in Saudi Arabia has resulted in greater representation for women in social life and has greatly helped achieve many of their demands.
Social networks are powerful voice for the voiceless. Of course, women used it effectively to publicize their rights and duties. I think social networks in Saudi Arabia, is a positive window for many, and through which many demands were met. (Interviewee No. 3, male government official)
The absence of public platforms in the past, which wich would have allow all groups in the society to engage in a fruitful discussion about their domestic issues and surrounding political events, was far from healthy, this official participant claimed. The current situation in which social media is allowing different ideologies in the society to interact with each other, she believed that we can see the results in the reality of women empowerment in the country, where women have managed to influence official policy-makers, in addition to impacts in the social mind-set.
I think that social networks have allowed everyone to talk, women and men all without exception of all currents and all ideas, and this is somewhat healthy, because it is not necessary to think that after this rise in the situation of women’s empowerment that we do not respect the other opinion. (Interviewee No. 5, female government official)
In similar societies, elites control the society, deciding on behalf of the public and suggesting reform policies, while interaction about government decisions was barely present in the past if not totally absent, according to this participant. He continued to claim that the emergence of social media and the type of discourses that evolve daily on these sites have eliminated the kind of restricted political participation Saudis experienced in the past, and it has become a wide-open space for many users to share and comment.
Participation became open to all without any class discrimination. The role of the political and economic elites that controlled the form of participation ended. All people were able to represent themselves. There is a form of transformation and participation of individuals who cannot be considered as elites in any way. We have seen users with thousands of followers coming out of simple backgrounds, but they have introduced a new, different proposition and found its impact on people. (Interviewee No. 29, male activist)
The Saudi government is nonetheless benefiting from the developing discourses in social media, which allow them to make decisions in a relatively easy fashion regarding reforms, this participant claimed. This perception greatly varied from that of interviewees’ who were activists on Twitter, as she thought the current form of social media is the tool for the official establishment to engage the public in policy-making and giving citizens some sort of political participation.
Of course, the Saudi regime uses a technique so that it propagates a rumour and measures the public’s reaction to it. I remember reading about something similar. Always with every decision I noticed rumours preceding its release, even though prior to the technological development it was difficult to measure, but now with social networks, the way to know opinions has become easier. Twitter, used by most young people and WhatsApp, used by a larger segment of elderly. If you notice the decision to drive cars, it is preceded by some rumours, such as that the license will be for those over the age of 35 and as such can be observed. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
7.4 The Concept of Change
The aspect of changes presented by any government is to a great extent subject to the public’s perception about the regime. Such perceptions become more deep rooted in the case of authoritarian regimes under a largely patriarchal system. However, there are also studies that emphasise that the government’s image among citizens, even if negative, does not impact its performance or the approach it adopts for reform, although it greatly affects the public’s evaluation of such changes (Gelders and Walle, 2005).
This part focused on measuring the reflection of the women’s rights discourse on social media platforms and on the official process of decision-making. It examined the participants’ responses to the Royal announcement about allowing women to some extent to dispense with the need for a guardian’s permission to avail public services, besides giving them the permission to drive.
Changes in regulations do not necessarily signify changes in practices. While it seems that the official establishment is mentoring the development of women’s discourse in social media, some believe there is serious interaction between the government and public regarding what is being presented by many on social media platforms and others think it is yet to realise any such step and that their reaction is only nominal to a great extent, lacking any type of follow-up on their promises on the ground.
This participant, active in the women’s right discourse, thought that the society’s reaction, which emerged right after the King’s announcement about disregarding a number of related laws, was diverse concerning the government’s response to the women’s discourse demanding the abolition of the guardianship law. This was hailed as a victory for women who took to social media platforms to voice their demands. This participant noticed mixed interpretations and a number of users were dissatisfied with this decision, but since it came from the royal establishment, they were reluctant to speak their minds on social media, according to this participant.
Reactions vary depending on the users’ backgrounds. There are those who are still holding backward ideas about women, but since the reforms came from the King directly, they did not mention the change in laws, rather they talked about the direction to which the country is heading towards much more liberal state, that they do not agree with. On the other hand, there are activists who fought for many years for similar reforms, and at last they sensed the change. (Interviewee No. 13, female activist)
The constant concern about the way the government approaches domestic issues is the major factor in determining the public’s reaction. This participant explained that the way the government dealt with women’s right to drive cars appeared like a green signal for many users to speak about their real stance on this prohibition that existed for years; and this is apparent quite commonly on many occasions as this participant emphasised. Whenever the government’s stance on a matter changes, users take to social media to talk about the subject.
Perhaps a person likes to ride the waves. A high percentage was opposed to women driving, and then you see them reluctant to express support for this government’s great decision. (Interviewee No. 12, female activist)
This participant suggested that officials’ interaction with the developing discourse about women’s right in social media could play the role of a mediator, amidst a number of groups on these platforms. They emphasised that the government’s role is much about clearing the air by enforcing new laws that serve the rights of a huge section of the society.
Those who were reluctant to impose any changes in the lifestyle in the past, were surprisingly a little bit open for the change since they are understanding that they are not forced to accept similar changes. (Interviewee No. 21, female activist)
Another activist presented their perception on this issue, claiming that the lack of physical social movements in Saudis’ lives and dependence on social media as a space to forward their demands should be received by the government in an understanding manner, and a civilized way of communicating with authorities should be adopted. The participant further stated that the government’s response to the women’s right discourse is a largely appreciated gesture.
I am sure there is a huge diversity across the country, but in my conservative village, it was surprising that the relatively rapid acceptance of women driving. Perhaps one of the reasons for acceptance, is an economic one since that most families are not able to afford to hire a private driver or rely on minibuses, and they also need women to work, so the solution was for women to buy cars, at once or in instalments, eventually is helping the family. (Interviewee No. 28, male activist)
These participants stated that the government’s response does not tackle the core aim of the demands, in light of the growing appeals for women’s rights in the country. It is more or less an attempt to detract attention from the real humanitarian cause presented in such discourses. In addition to it, they believed that this is the official way to break down the activists’ effort to gain some sort of public opinion around their issue, by partly interacting with the matter.
Those who are fully aware of the women’s struggles, accept it is a small step, but never enough. However, others are reluctant in accepting similar adjustments, until they realize the level of complexity women go through daily to acquire services. (Interviewee No. 15, female activist)
For some services? The full independence of women is a right and I do not believe in compromising rights. I believe that people will receive any government decision on women in the same way they did to allow women drive. Accepted fully. The government uses the society’s values as a taboo to escape the risk of public outrage if women are given their rights. (Interviewee No. 17, female activist)
It is not surprising for many that the government project aiming to transform the conservative society into a much more modern community was a proposed approach. These two activists saw the government’s interaction with similar discourses in social media as part of the official propaganda and exploitation of popular new technologies to present the Crown prince’s image to the world as an open-minded leader. But on the ground, there is barely any real consideration of the women’s issues.
Some people received it as a break from the backwards customs in the society and this is what the son of the king tries to suggest, that he is an open-minded person and will break us from the shackles of the past, so he is the hero. (Interviewee No. 18, female activist)
As far as I know, we need to talk about consent to study abroad, surgeries and discharge from the hospital, all of which still requires guardian’s consent. Everyone received the subject of driving with great joy, but the implementation of this decision is very disappointing. (Interviewee No. 6, female activist)
This activist of the women discourse believed that the government’s response to the demands on social media are the bare minimum. She emphasised that the government is implementing some shiny schemes and promises, which seem to the public as complete submission to the discourse’s demands, while women continue to face discrimination on a daily basis and there is a lack of enforcement of their suggested changes on the ground.
No matter how much authority play with words, I find them superficial and non-radical decisions. I did not find any change affecting the average woman, including myself. The quite appearance for male guardianship, and the absence of effective laws that criminalize violence against women with high collaboration from the law enforcement with abusive men. (Interviewee No. 26, female activist)
In line with many activist participants, this interviewee (No.30) expressed a negative view of the situation in the country. She mentioned their earlier experiences with the government, when officials failed to meet the expectations and constantly responded to the issues in half measure. At other times, in different situations, such decisions were not followed up on the ground, which suggested that they were made solely for propaganda, an effort to distract activists from the main issue as explained by this participant.
At the beginning, like many I applauded the announcement, because I thought they were very radical, but quickly many users acknowledged the reasons behind such decisions, and their demands became ever stronger. Such as abolishing guardianship law, preventing women’s abuse and allowing greater political representation. (Interviewee No. 30, female activist)
Another participant, who talked about the matter from a different perspective, said that despite the fact that the discourse inspired interaction between different social groups, we should not ignore the political reasons behind such reforms. The following interviewee (No. 23) suggested that the announcement that echoed in the women’s discourse on social media was not due to good intentions. The participant’s circle sensed ambiguity in the change, and so, we must acknowledge the type of impact that could be attached to this particular situation and to the political one as a whole. Finally, she emphasised in their answers that such decisions in their current form signify efforts to detract the discourse from the original demands that sought to abolish all types of male guardianship over women in Saudi Arabia.
Where I am from, every one greeted the changes, but without ignoring the political reasons behind the timing and content of the changes. However, also from what I gather from my circle, they sensed ambiguity in guardianship laws. (Interviewee No. 23, female activist)
An interviewee (No. 29) mentioned how many religious texts are misunderstood and their association with traditional practices. In their answer, they posited understanding for the reasons behind the government’s intervention to solve such problems. In their opinion, parental authority cannot be exceeded to making decisions on behalf of the girls regarding their formal education or their right to drive cars. While this participant admitted that the foundation of most of the laws in the country lies in religious texts, they should not be confused with some aspects that are simply old practices created by society and thus followed and preserved.
There is a serious problem, where traditions are being treated as if they are religious texts. Women are not in need for their parent’s permission to study or what type of food she consumes and the same could apply to driving cars. The idea that there is common mistake between religion and traditions; when we are talking about Saudi Arabia we acknowledge its special situation being an Islamic country and the chances of it being a secular state, is almost none. (Interviewee No. 29, male activist)
Another participant (No. 31) expressed an opinion that leans more toward revisiting the roles regarding guardianship laws. Society has been built on foundations that value the role of parents and many people even today are dependent on their parents to a great extent. However, the input suggests that an age limit could be introduced to such laws to ultimately allow young women to make important decisions of their lives on their own.
I think there must be a role for parents in some of their children’s decisions; for girls at certain age and about other decisions important within the family. I do not want to call it ‘guardian’ because that seems more for those who are underage, I would like women to have an effective role, which illustrates that she is an independent person and does not need others to make decisions for her. (Interviewee No. 31, male activist)
Those interviewed who work with the government thought the official’s interaction with the growing discourse on social media is a reflection of the level of change within the government in terms of women’s issues in the country. They claimed that a similar step shows the government’s desire to listen to women’s demands and an indication of the current appeal of connecting with the public at a much larger scale. According to these participants, the new reforms are totally in line with the social and religious situation of the country.
2030 Vision Engineer Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia is working confidently to push for economic and social reforms and said that he believes that there are rights for women in Islam they have not yet obtained, and here we harvest the fruits of these wonderful reforms and next decisions are better. (Interviewee No. 19, female government official)
I welcome all the projects in which women have been empowered, because all these projects simply do not contradict with my principles. The fact that women can work without the consent of their guardian, for example; our grandmothers used to work without the permission of the guardian, because women’s study or work without the consent of the guardian is a positive thing, since they do not practice any wrong behaviour by studying or working. Having her own means of transportation is welcome to me. However, society in general saw women’s driving as the contrary, or coming out of the mantle of the family as a form of liberation and this is not true, because we are a society that deeply linked to their families and loves the form of the family adopted. (Interviewee No. 5, female government official)
This participant emphasised in their answer that the government’s interaction with social media and the developing discourses in such platforms is not a new practice, since the state has always done some sort of polling to measure the public’s reaction to any proposed changes in the lives of Saudis. Consequently, whenever there is a rising demand among the public, the officials’ intervention in the given matter should be considered as political maturity, according to this interviewee.
The government is testing the social atmosphere on many issues. I remember a saying by Prince Nayef: ‘Women will drive, whenever society is ready for this decision’ it was to put the ball in the court of society. I also think that many decisions, if imposed by force, without any consideration of reality, this can be dangerous, but most of the decisions are made based on the vision and feel the initial pulse of society, and this in my view is the reason for the success of many decisions; they succeed because the community has the ability and willingness, at least the majority. (Interviewee No. 1, male government official)
Everyone from the official group with barely any exception saw this government’s interaction with the women’s discourse in social media with some sort of gratitude, this official participant claimed. They first remembered some reactions on social media when the driving prohibition was lifted; how some users suggested that some sort of escalation in security would happen, whenever women start driving. While in reality, the process transpired rather smoothly.
Through my social media accounts, and on a personal level, there was acceptance and comfort of this decision. There were myths in our minds that disorder would spread when we started to allow women to drive, and at the hour of implementation, we found great coverage of the event and did not sense any kind of disorder until today. (Interviewee No. 3, male government official)
This response indicated that there were a lot of positives that could be seen in the government’s interaction with the women’s rights discourse on social media, although they mentioned that some groups who were in favour of delaying the decision until all the regulations were sorted out were not heard in the process. The officials were selective in this interaction, which they regarded as a negative aspect.
I think the reaction is generally positive, but every decision has supporters and opponents. Some are always wondering about the laws that regulate such new practices. I think that some decisions should be delayed until further dialogues. (Interviewee No. 8, male government official)
According to this official, this new era of advanced technology and rapid interaction with news or events is not suitable for the old way of decision-making. This official participant recognised such change in the government’s attitude towards interacting with the newly presented demands on social media as an indication about a complete change in the government’s mind-set, even with the existence of groups on social media that are yet to accept similar reforms. It fell in the government’s hands to make an important decision in the matter.
What is issued about women in particular is a historical reform that cannot be delayed more than what happened, even if there is some reluctance, because with the open-age of the new media it is no longer accepted to stick with the method of slow and long process. (Interviewee No. 4, male government official)
Much similar to the previous remark, this former member of the parliament mentioned the change in the government’s attitude in terms of interacting with social media. They believed that the bureaucratic functioning previously required in dealing with such decisions has disappeared in this era of governance. The immediate interaction with the women’s discourse on social media was more of a show of courage and a huge leap that the society needed.
Certainly, I believe that when the state took bold decisions in a proper way, taking all the dimensions into account, it was already short of many stages and acted like a leap on the subject of women. Instead of graduating in the past, the state jumped to the main issue, which to be true in my estimation there was maturity in decision-making. (Interviewee No. 7, male government official)
An official participant claimed that this change was a victory for Saudi women. These demands were a subject of discussion among Saudis for a long time, and the government finally acknowledged women’s right for such reforms by following the process to enforce these changes on the ground. As they said in their answer, it was also the declaration of a new beginning, towards a significantly fairer situation for women in the country.
They are dynamic decisions; personally, I am grateful for the government for making such changes and ensuring their effectiveness on all life aspects. They came after long period of waiting and much effort from both men and women who have high sense of social responsibility. (Interviewee No. 14, female government official)
A notable exception among the activist group, this participant (No. 11) in the women’s rights discourse provided a positive response, as they believed that this was the result of the constant discourse on social media, and eventually, there was some sort of encouraging reaction to the demands presented. Women’s rights advocates view it as a very encouraging sign and claim that the Saudi government came considerably closer to the people’s needs through these platforms. There was a sense of delight in the reactions to similar events.
It knew great reception and many are happy for what that could mean for their lives in reality. (Interviewee No. 11, male activist)
7.5 Stop Embarrassing Us Campaign: Seeking Answers
One of the campaigns that emphasised the growing impact of social media discourse on government’s interaction with women’s situation in the country was the Kefah Ehraj campaign, which when translated in English roughly means stop embarrassing us. Started by a few activists on social media, on Facebook, it grew on Twitter significantly. Advocates of women’s issues managed to create a campaign that attracted numerous participants, calling for the government to introduce new laws that regulate the selling of women’s clothing.
This campaign attracted participants based on the official grounds of their demands, since the cabinet introduced a new regulation in 2006 suggesting that stores should prioritize the employment of Saudi citizens and women should be employed in stores specialising in women’s wear (Alyaum.com, 2006). The official announcement was repeatedly delayed, which led to the campaign in 2010, as per the campaign activists.
The Stop Embarrassing us campaign began to gain momentum by mid-2010, attracting different social groups. One of the leading activists started to document what she called the level of embarrassment women experience in dealing with salesmen who are strangers to them. Vlogging her experience along with participants in the campaign resulted in a tremendous discussion on the campaign’s Facebook page.
Such constant efforts from the page admin Fatimah Garoop allowed her to reach out to celebrities to engage them in the campaign. During one of her trips to malls in Jeddah city, she managed to accompany with her a famous actor and vlogged the whole visit on the campaign’s Facebook page (Nazir, 2010), highlighting the issue by engaging influencers. Similar steps should be able to mount pressure on the official establishment to stop delaying the process of enforcing such changes in the lives of Saudis, since the social and religious reasons are all available for the policymakers to directly intervene with (Garoop, 2010).
The Kefah Ehraj campaign was sort of aware of the public opposition’s and the official delay. The reality of gender segregation in many aspects of life in the country is one of the most discussed issues, as many consider this to be the primary barrier women face in integrating in the job field, which leads to low levels of employment (france24.com, 2012).
Conversely, the official intervention that delayed the enforcement of the cabinet decision was justified in a rather practical manner; and many press releases blamed the business owners for not complying with the terms provided about redesigning their stores to make them more conducive work environments for women.
The reluctance from the official establishment was not appreciated by the campaign participants and those who believed the demands were just. An ex-member of parliament said that the official’s justification for the delay was not sufficient. They gave examples of women who are working in open markets and interacting with men constantly, without it affecting their work (Althnian, 2010).
Moreover, a participant activist said that the official entities overseeing such matters lack understanding of Saudi women’s needs and problems, starting from the need to have a steady income to support their families to the kind of privacy violation they feel when dealing with male strangers in inquiring about items in these stores. She continued questioning government organisations responsible for the quality offered by these businesses and the type of customer services in place. She claimed that many of those owners, besides delaying the implementation of the cabinet’s decision to employ a completely female staff, also recruit cheap labour from poor Asian countries to reduce costs without any consideration of the kind of living conditions they provided them. The last part was described as sufficient motivation to reach out to those stores mother-companies, first to voice Saudi women’s struggles with the government and business owners, and second, to speak on behalf of workers’ regarding the difficulties they face in such working environments. There were efforts to force these importers to obey the rules that value customers and workers or face the consequences of being boycotted by these activists (Althnian, 2010).
The demands for women’s employment in stores in malls all over the country started to grow with time and continued to attract an increasing number of people; the Facebook page in particular had 10,000 participants (Abdulaziz and Bin Omirah, 2017). Campaigns were also organised on the ground to raise awareness about the issue, highlighting these brands’ annual revenues, comparing it with the level Saudi women could benefit from such franchises both socially and professionally. Additionally, the campaign managed to reach out to women in both malls and universities to participate in the campaign and eventually persuade the government to enforce their earlier decision (Saudi 1st channel, 2010).
In 2014, the campaign finally succeeded in achieving their main goal: to make women’s wear stores completely run by women in the country. This decision was also followed by a dozen of new regulations prioritising women’s employment in malls, and as a result, all these establishments prioritised their employment under a plan that would be due to completion in three years.
Moreover, this plan was made in collaboration with other government entities, which introduced services for working women in such places, such as social services that provide nursery care for their children, another program that provides transportation. By 2018, according to the spokesperson for the labour ministry, Saudis occupied about 86% of the jobs in malls, as 96,000 establishments committed to the reform plan (arabic.rt.com 2018).
7.6 Summary of Key Findings and Insights
The third chapter, based on the examination of the analytical framework, focused mainly on the participants’ responses on the relationship between the government and the ongoing discourse regarding women’s rights in social media. It revisited the discourse’s goals and measured the level of agreement among women’s rights activists regarding the official response in terms of their desire to reform. It also scrutinised how those who represent the official standpoint, that is, those who were questioned in the interview process, sensed the reflection of such discourse on social media platforms on the issues they were constantly dealing with in their respective government entities.
In the beginning, I analysed the answers provided; they mentioned the increasing statements seeking more regulations for using social media by those who actively adopt a rather official point of view, while officials were trying to justify such move by reflecting on the type of misusages for social media platforms; which is according to many participants have varied from some sort of online bullying, to ideas that contradicts with religious values, and up to being a place that was attracted to spread extreme ideologies.
The second part examined the level to which the Saudi users have managed to engage in the process of political and social discussion in Saudi Arabia and how such a process was impacted by many factors from both spheres. The rapid changes that took place in the country in the last few years sent a wave of unrest in the public. Moreover, the continuing changes in the region since the Arab Spring forced many Saudis, willingly or reluctantly, to participate in seemingly democratic discussions.
The third part of the data analysis explained the aspects of changes presented by participants of the women’s rights discourse on social media, which allowed activists to constantly find a space to share their issues and discuss them. Their ability to attract major interaction for most of the related issues could be singled out as being one of the reasons that encouraged the official establishment to intervene and try to resolve the current situation, besides applying some sort of positive approach in the public’s eye, as mentioned by some interviewees.
In the last part, I looked into one of the most successful campaigns led by women activists in social media, with regard to the lower rates of women’s employment in the country and the struggles many face dealing with male strangers while buying their personal women’s wear. The type of change identified from the official announcement, I considered how we could regard it as a response to the demands presented by a large number of participants in the women’s rights discourse on social media, distinct from simply an act of reform by the government that was taken regardless of the public’s influence. Further, such change could have an impact on the lifestyle prevalent in the conservative country. This change focuses on integrating women in many more spheres of life, while at the same time presenting it as a victory for the government after many years of prohibition of similar practices.
Social media usage in cyberactivism was increasing in Saudi Arabia as the Saudi women had discovered its unlimited power to facilitate discourses in public issues without going into public spaces. Moreover, the geopolitical events in the region and Arab world in general had encouraged women to pay attention and participate in discourses addressing social and political issues. The government officials presented the perception that the government encourages such discourses provided they did not contravene the social and religious norms of the country. Notably, calls to regulate the social media space from wayward users are seen to misuse the privilege, this is what was common across government officials. Nonetheless, the advocates of women empowerment in the country viewed the participation of the government in online discourses largely from a sceptical stand point. Again, the level of bravery and conformity was evident, with few activists choosing their negative sentiments carefully, and indication that conservative reservations prevailed across Saudi women.
8 Chapter 8: Discussion
8.1 Introduction
This chapter examines the study findings and makes assessments about the lessons they reveal. The findings are given meaning and interpreted in the national, regional, and global contexts. To this end, this section answers the research questions and evaluates the secondary data collected in the literature review. The positions taken are justified using the results. Moreover, the answers to the research questions are fitted into the existing body of knowledge related to the dynamism of social media in Saudi Arabia.
The research design facilitated the collection of pertinent information regarding social media usage in Saudi Arabia. By focusing on the users of social media platforms in the country and involving the pertinent stakeholders in the women empowerment agenda as participants, the study aptly captured the vital sentiments that revealed the dynamism of social media in the country. The aims of this study could best be achieved through the interpretation of the people living the social media experience, thus enabling the reality of these lived experiences to be assessed through the impact users’ thoughts have on women empowerment discourses in the social and political contexts of Saudi Arabia. The practice approach facilitated suitably the answering of the question why social media users preferred Twitter and Facebook to advance their women empowerment agenda. The narrative analysis lent meaning to their perceptions, which were constructed as stories or narratives. Eventually, the phenomenon of social media as a women empowerment discourse tool in the Saudi context was better understood under the research conditions.
In this regard, the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, and the technological determinism theory will be used to help in giving meaning and explaining the sentiments from activists and government officials about their perceptions on how much the Saudi society had embraced and adopted new technologies, and especially, social media. The discussion will focus on explaining the nuances emerging from the study participants regarding the promotion and facilitation of social change, particularly in the promotion of the discourses on women empowerment and rights and interaction between the civil society and the government, considering that the Saudi society is a traditionally very conservative society that is heavily influenced by islam and the Arabic culture. In the same vein, the weak tie theory, the theory of ritual, and the social exchange theory will be used to explain the nature of interactions of women rights and empowerment activists and government officials with social media. The areas of convergence and differences in the perceptions of activists and government officials were evidenced by their sentiments, and will be explained using the theoretical framework adopted by the study. Similarly, any gendered nuances that emerge between the two groups, as evidenced by their use of social media, will also be theorized according to the theoretical framework, to facilitate the understanding of how social media had influenced the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia.
This chapter is structured along the research question “what is the role of social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia?” and the sub-questions: i) how do women rights activists engage with social media in Saudi Arabia? and ii) how do Saudi government officials engage with social media n relation to women’s rights issues?
8.2 Evolution of the Saudi Society in the Advent of New Media
The findings revealed that there was an overall appreciation among the activists and government officials across the gender divide that there had been significant transformations in the Saudi society, particularly on women rights and empowerment, since the emergence and proliferation of social media in the country. The modernisation of the Saudi society, courtesy of social media was well captured in the analysis in chapter 6, which analyses the perceptions presented by the activists and government officials that participated in this study and can be explained using the literature reviewed in this study. Notably, the analysis revealed that part of the societal modernisation process included the increased uptake of social media, which was consistent with the global trends, the shift towards the use of diverse and pluralist media and away from the traditionally state-controlled and censored media, which had increased participation of the Saudis in diverse political, social, cultural and religious discourses in public forums, the increased exposure to novel ideas that were previously not known to the Saudis, and especially, the embracing of social media as an alternative space that facilitated new debates, which overcame the limitations that the Saudi public experienced in the past. Consequently, the new discussions by the Saudi society over social media were influencing the individual and collective lives of the Saudi nationals and the operations of the government through the accommodation and adoption of new ideas, thus making the Saudi society more open, at least communicatively. The modernisation of the Saudi society through social media is well-illustrated by several studies that were reviewed the literature, including those by Anderson and Toor (2018), Kalin (2019), Hopkins, Kirchgaessner and Shaheen (2019), O’Connor, Janenova and Knox (2019), Pandey, Gupta, and Chattopadhyay (2019), Tufekci and Wilson (2012), Velasquez and LaRose (2015), Xenos, Vromen and Loader (2014), Wilson and Graham (2016). It can also be contextualised by argument presented by Van Geel (2016) who argued that the Saudi society was embracing ikhtilat, which allowed women to mingle in public spaces that had been specially developed for them to modernise their traditional confinement to their homes. The Saudi women viewed the women-only public spaces as modernity within the confines of Islam, and therefore, considered this development as a unique character of the modernisation of the Saudi society, which did not incorporate the western modernity perspectives (Van Geel, 2016). Similarly, these developments are echoed by Karolak and Guta (2020) who argued that the media depiction of Saudi women had changed significantly from portraying them as a group that required constant approval of male guardians to venture into public spaces to people that were capable of making their own decisions and participating in social, economic, and political activities actively.
Nonetheless, the sentiments expressed by the participants underscored the conflicting ideologies regarding the extent of social change that had been mediated by new media and reflected in the evolving actions of the government and the varying support for and perceptions of these actions among Saudi nationals. The study revealed that although the Saudi society had changed significantly in the conceptualization of the social, cultural, and political spaces, particularly those afforded by the emergence and proliferation of new media technologies and reflected in the government’s transformation agenda and programs for women, their perceptions were gendered, influenced by social class divide, and varied depending on the societal position and role of the opinion holder. Capturing and explaining the diverse nuances presented by the diverse participants contextualizes the historical progression of the Saudi society towards how it conceptualizes and identifies with the on-going changes in relation to the issues afflicting Saudi women. This trajectory can be best contextualized by viewing new media technologies as having been instrumental to the evolution of the Saudi society, economically, culturally, and socially. Specifically, the study demonstrated that the perceptions of activist and government officials converged in the areas of the positive influence that social media technology had had on exposing the plight of the Saudi women and encouraging discourse between the different stakeholders, whose explanations are aptly captured in the literature reviewed in this study. For instance, O’Connor, Janenova and Knox (2019) present arguments about societal advancements, which can be used to contextualise the contribution of the Saudi government through the establishment of an open government, which was characterised by increased interaction between the government and the public and the use of technology to facilitate such increased interaction. Similarly, the social transformation power of social media has been discussed extensively by Hirst (2012) using the technological determinism theory, which explains technology as a powerful force that instigates cultural change in societies. However, the opinions of the study participants diverge when some doubt whether the Saudi government and society had changed much since the advent of social media. For instance, the study revealed that many Saudis still relied on traditional media for news because they felt that it was more reliable and trustworthy than new media. In addition, some participants felt that the government controlled social media in the same manner it controlled traditional media, that is, though censorship and directing the narratives for public discourses. Moreover, other participants felt that the Saudi government used social media analytic to monitor and track their citizens and identify critics and dissidents. The control and surveillance realities emerging from the sentiments of the participants, especially the activists are explained by Dencik and Hintz (2017) who underscored the chilling effect surveillance induced into a society, Dencik (2018) who found that surveillance yielded inconsistencies and ambiguities in the attitudes of the populace, and De Vries (2018) who discussed the emergence of black transparency as a way to circumvent the restrictions placed on governmental transparency, which shames the state through exposure of secrets while defending the public. In the same vein, Guha (2015) warned that the heavy reliance on social media hashtaging without commensurate engagement of the mainstream media, could stifle rather that promote social change because it did not get sufficient attention from policymakers and presented a warped perspective of a critical social issue through its viral effect. This may explain why some participants in the study expressed their reservation about how well social media had mediates the advancement of the Saudi society.
Nonetheless, the sentiments of the participants in this study indicated that the power distance between the civil society and the government had narrowed, but not closed, indicating that while the Saudi society, including the Saudi women, acknowledged the authority and legitimacy of their government and its officials, the traditional power structures prevailed. Similarly, the power distance between the Saudi men and women has narrowed significantly, as demonstrated by the ongoing interactions between men and women activists and government officials in a public platform (Twitter), despite being strangers to each other. These societal and interaction transformations in the Saudi society can be explained using the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, and the technological determinism theory introduced in the conceptual framework section in the literature review chapter. Specifically, the transformation of power relations between the Saudi government and civil society and between Saudi men and women is an indication of an evolving Saudi society and can be explained using the communications theory of power. In conceptualising the social change in the Saudi society, Reunanen and Kunelius (2020) noted that social media and other new media technologies diminished the authority of the dominant interests and elevated those of the minority interests. In this case, the interests of the Saudi government as the dominant party has been diminished while those of the women’s rights and empowerment activists as the minority group has been elevated by the use of social media in public discourses. In turn, this had shifted the power balance between the Saudi women and Saudi government, as demonstrated by the nuances presented by the activists and government officials. In the same vain, activists and government officials addressed common political and societal issues on the same social media platform, which agrees with Fortunati (2014) thinking about how new media had reconfigured the power dynamics among the powerful and disenfranchised members of society, thus transforming how politics was conducted in Saudi Arabia, at least at the engagement and discursive level. Similarly, the convergence in the opinions and perceptions of activists and government officials can be explained using the actor-network theory, which is another indication of the evolution and modernization of the Saudi society. Heeks and Stanforth (2015) use this theory to explain how humans form networks by aligning their interests across different individuals and parties, to facilitate the process of goal identification, problem characterisation, and solution finding. . In this regard, the activists and government officials participating in the study agreed that women needed to participate more in the social and political discourses and landscapes in Saudi Arabia to promote their empowerment, which was evidenced in their nuanced sentiments.
However, from this study, it could be inferred that the government and civil society were sometimes operating at cross-purposes, and as such, their intentions and motivations in the use of social media differed. The findings indicated that many government officials felt that that the government had done much to empower women, while the activists noted that the governments actions were not genuine and delivered no real empowerment, because the programs and messages were a public relations gimmick aimed at promoting the country to the western world rather than being directed towards making any comprehensive transformation of the Saudi society. Gerbaudo (2017) explains this conundrum using the technological determinism theory, which positions technology, and social media in this case, as a powerful force that influences culture in and the historical transformation of a society. According to Gerbaudo and Treré (2015), this theory explains how the two parties had evolved using social media, with the government being more engaging and the women empowerment and rights activists being bolder with their sentiments. Specifically, the ease of use and wide reach of social media had endeared the government in its quest to reach the Saudi population and attracted activists who could now engage in digital activism anonymously, without contravening the cultural and religious norms of the Saudi society.
In the same vein, this study demonstrated that the perceptions of women empowerment and rights activists and government officials on the role of social media in transforming the Saudi society were gendered. The study revealed the subtle and nuanced differences between the perceptions of male and female activists and government officials, which was indicative of the prevailing and perpetuated paternalistic and conservative society and the increasing clamour to change the societal and cultural status quo. For instance, some female activists felt that the government’s empowerment programs were superficial and intended to improve the perception of the regime to western powers, without delivering any substantial societal and cultural reform. Meanwhile, some of the male activists were cognisant of the societal and cultural advancements made, especially in enabling women and men address the empowerment and rights issues afflicting Saudi women in the same space on social media, when such interaction was traditionally forbidden in the Saudi society. Similarly, some of the male government officials felt that the use of social media needed to be regulated by the government to prevent the erosion of the Saudi social and cultural traditions and heritage. Contrastingly, many female government officials thought that the government has adopted the right approach in its empowerment programs, which it had popularised over social media, to raise awareness and empower women. These gendered nuances are an indication that men and women interact differently with and over social media and may have different perspectives on political, social, and economic issues that women confront on a daily basis, which was indicative of the fluctuating, complex, and dynamic modernisation and transformation of the Saudi society in which the efforts to change the status quo and historical characteristics of the Saudi society were in tension with those that advocated conservatism. Cerqueira, Cabecinhas, and Magalhães (2016) proposed that the relationship between gender relations and technology was interactive and digital technologies were reconfiguring the identities, needs, and priorities of women. This notion is reiterated by Cummings and O’Neil (2015), who noted that digital technologies had enabled women to challenge gender-inspired power relations. However, the resistance for change, or at least the concern that social change should not erode the core fabric of the Saudi society has been explained by Couldry, Hepp, and Krotz (2009) who noted that mass media was commonly used to perpetuate the norms and ideals of society while subjugating any divergent opinions and perspectives about the prevailing society.
With this theoretical explanations of the transformation of the Saudi society enabled by the advent of new media, details and the embedded nuances emerging from the perceptions of the male and female activists and the government officials can be interrogated and explained further. The emerging subtle differences in expression and meanings projected by the participants can be explained using the weak tie theory, the theory of ritual, and the social exchange theory. Notably, the perceptions about the advancement of the Saudi society in its contextualisation of women and their issues differed significantly between government officials and activists. Many activists and government believed that the government was right in entering into the social media space and interacting more with its citizenry in a bid to create common areas of understanding in the areas of development and empowerment. The analysis of the findings revealed that while activists posted content related to the challenges that women faced in society, the government wrote about what it was doing to address these challenges; however, the activists and government officials interacted more on social media than physically, despite their differences in opinion. In this regard, the activists displayed what Tan (2017, p. 171) termed as “digital masquerading” in which activists leverage the affordances of social media platforms to individualise their gendered identity, reconceptualise publicness, to project self-awareness, and circumvent criminalisation and censorship from the government. In the same vein, the nuanced sentiments of the participants can be explained by Castells (2013), who argued that the evolution of the format and content of media and its messages is commensurate to that of the society’s culture. In the same vein, Rentschler and Thrift (2015) argued that in the global networked society, cultural transformation is interdependent and has commonalities with the emergence and proliferation of new digital technologies. Moreover, the interaction between strangers on social media platforms, in this case, between government officials and activists that were unfamiliar with each other, can be explained using the weak tie theory, which posits that weak interpersonal ties between unfamiliar and unrelated individuals facilitated the speedy flow of new information and perspectives, which is often restricted in homogeneous groups, as explained by De Meo, et al. (2014) and Wright and Miller (2010). In the same vein, Kahne and Bowyer (2018) illustrated the application of this theory in promoting political engagement through large social networks that are formed over social media platforms.
However, some participants felt that the government was using social media to consolidate it control over the Saudi society in women empowerment matters by attempting to control the narrative over social media. Specifically, some activists and government officials felt that the government used social media as a space for increased communication, although it delivered social change slowly. Seeck and Rantanen (2015) and Stets and Turner (2014) apply the theory of ritual to explain the findings of this study by noting that social media has the powerful and influential effect of dissolving and de-emphasizing social divisions in society and increasing a shared sense of identity among communities. The sentiments expressed by the activists and government officials did not indicate a significant sense of social division, particularly in the use of social media in the country, except that in some instances, some participants, especially, the female activists, expressed their feeling that social media discursive spaces favoured the elite women in the Saudi society that had access to digital technologies and were raised in more liberal and permissive families. in this regard, Happer and Philo (2013) acknowledged media as a contestable space in which powerful and dominant groups establish their control and hegemony through specific and tailored messages, the reception process of the audiences is complex and may provide opportunities and possibilities for varying the behavioural and attitudinal responses to these messages, thus provoking social change in the long term. Moreover, the information perpetrated over new media channels can legitimise the ideas and actions of the powerful and dominant members of society and encourage social challenge at the collective level or hinder and reshape the actions and behaviours of individuals, thus discouraging any significant social change. However, these observations are negated by Li and Li (2017) who explained how the Chinese feminist movement was legitimised and even spurred policy responses from the government by adopting less threatening activism tactics in their social media campaigns. This notion has been well captured by Bore, Graefer, and Kilby (2018) who noted that social media mediated the development of intense feelings, embodied experiences, emotional attachments, and artificial sensations from their multimedia interactive capabilities, which could increase involvement and participation in political issue and encourage users to challenge the oppressive and unequal systems in their society. This may explain the Saudi government’s motivation in participating in discussion on social media platforms, in which some study participants noted that it was aimed at sanitizing the image of the kingdom to western observers and promoting its empowerment programs among the Saudis, even when these programs were skewed towards economic empowerment, at the expense of significant and enduring social and political empowerment. McGivern et al. (2018) argue that new media has contributed to the modernisation of societies by dismantling information sharing barriers and redefining their norms and practices, in which the consumer of information has as much control as the creator of content and the purveyor of the technology. This is evident in the increased participation of Saudi women in public discourses of political, cultural, and social issues, as evidenced in the sentiments of the study participants. However, some sentiments emerging from this study indicated that some female participants were wary of the government’s narrative, which leaned more towards reinforcing the message that it had done much to empower women, which it promoted across all media outlets. This indicates the ability of media to be used to limit the propagation of certain information, thus diminishing the opportunities and possibilities of social and political change, as explained by Happer and Philo (2013). Another notable nuanced sentiment, that was evident especially among the male participants, indicated that the government needed to do more to promote the responsible use of social media platform to avoid the wholesale adoption of foreign ideologies and erosion of the unique Saudi social, religious, and cultural character, a narrative that was supported by several government officials. This observation is explained by Givern et al. (2018), who note that the challenges in regulating new media due to its global pervasiveness and digital nature exposed small and disenfranchised cultures to the hegemony of the large and dominant ones, the unbounded influence of the mind alongside the challenge of legitimacy of source and credibility of information, and the erosion of control over privacy of human activities, actions, and life. In this regard, the risk of cultural imperialism, governmental censorship, and illicit practices supported by online technologies and social media, is a real threat to the positive progression of the human society because it erodes longstanding principles that have underpinned the stability of human civilizations despite their political, social, cultural, technological, and economic transformation and advancement (McGivern et al., 2018). This indicates an ongoing tension between the new and old generations, between men and women, and between the government and civil society in Saudi Arabia, although there is overall agreement that the entire Saudi society had made significant strides is quelling these tensions through increased interactions and topical engagement over social media platforms. Indeed, Guta and Karolak (2015) revealed that the young women in Saudi Arabia circumvented these tensions by using pseudonyms, using first names, and concealing their personal images to bypass gatekeepers and prevent familial identification, thus enabling them to negotiate the frontiers that were restricted by societal and cultural rules. However, some participants were not very confident about the modernising and transforming capability of social media how effectively the Saudi government has used it to propel its modernisation agenda. This is reflected by Couldry (2015), who also expressed his reservations towards the ability of digital networks on social media platforms to facilitate sustained long-term political action and initiate, mobilise, and deliver any significant long-lasting political change and instead encouraged unstable political socialisation and short-term loyalties.
Also, from the sentiments of the participants in this study, it is evident that both men and women activists were cognizant of the on-going transformations in the Saudi society, in terms of quality, pace, extent, and content of the transformation, and the motivations behind this transformations. The male and female activists agreed that although changes has occurred in the Saudi society in relation to their perceptions on the role of women in society, these changes were neither equal or equitably uniform across the Saudi society. Social class and parental open-mindedness were instruments in promoting acceptance of new social perceptions and conferring the benefits of social awareness to women. Notably, the study revealed that the Saudi society remained a highly-conservative society and that only women in the elite category and those living in large cities embraced and enjoyed the increased social spaces afforded by government initiatives and social media. The permission to drive for the Saudi women was used severally as an example of the societal changes that had benefited elite and urban Saudi women, and further marginalized the rural and uninformed ones that did not have high social standing, which was evidenced by Altoaimy (2018). In the same vein, women with parents that were more accepting of driving as a right for women were more accommodating of this development as a sign of advancement of the Saudi society in joining the ranks of nations that promoted women’s empowerment and rights as a normal and regular practice in a modern society. Stanger, Alnaghaimshi, and Pearson (2017) made similar observations when they noted that the young Saudi women used social media express their revulsion to the existing social and political situation involving them while still promoting their adherence to Islam by using social media in a religiously-acceptable manner. Similar sentiments were presented by Kim and Chen (2016) who noted that the use of digital technologies had promoted participation in politics over social media. The marginalisation of the rural lower-class women though social media usage featured in one some of the sentiments presented by the participants, especially the activists. Fotopoulou (2016) had argued that social media and digital networks has introduced a new form of marginalisation based on resources, age, and media literacy, with the older members of the society, those that had limited access to new technologies, and those with low media literacy being the new excluded entities in the vibrant political and social engagement, interaction, and conversations on social media platforms.
Moreover, in contextualising the interactions between the activists and government officials as revealed by the findings of this study, the social exchange theory can be used. According to DeLamater (2006), the social exchange theory explains how interactions between individuals are regulated by the risks, benefits, and costs of such engagements. However, it was not clear from the study whether the social exchanges in online networks was similar to that of offline networks in promoting social change, although there is no doubt from the perceptions of the study participants that online networks had facilitated more exchange of ideas, information, and opinions related to women empowerment and rights compared to offline networks. Nonetheless, this context can be explained by Surma (2016) who noted that social media provides more benefits, lower costs, and lesser risks than offline social exchange channels. The sentiments expressed by the participant are an indication of the growing feminist movement in Saudi Arabia, in which women used social media to speak and retaliate against sexism, rape culture, misogyny, and hegemony (Mendes, Ringrose, and Keller 2018; Kim 2017; Turley and Fisher 2018).
In contrast, the perceptions of the male and female activist participants differed when they reflected on the development and modernizing power of social media. The participants’ reflections indicated that the Saudi society remained as a highly-gendered one, with the men being more suspicious of the advancements and modernization of the Saudi woman, while the female activists felt that the government initiatives did not deliver any significant and longstanding changes to the positional and societal disadvantages experienced by the Saudi women. While both activists and government officials opined that western values drove the empowerment agenda of the Saudi government, many women activists viewed government programs and actions as a propagandist attempt to clean up the image of the royal regime in the international stage, while some male activists viewed this progression from an economic and qualitative lens instead, which was a notion elicited by Woolley and Howard (2018). This tempered approach towards political engagement and activism that was evidenced in the sentiments of the female Saudi participants in the study, are echoed by Gardikiotis, Navrozidou, and Euaggelou-Navarro (2020). These authors noted that women were often socialised to focus more on community activities rather than political affairs, which made them moderate their political participation and emotional attachment to politically-related women’s issues.
In the same vein, while both male and female government officials that participated in this study were cognisant of the government-led societal change in opening up the civic and political theatre for the Saudi women, they expressed their reservation on the intentions and pace of the societal transformative agenda. Many of them felt that the societal transformation process was intentionally slowed by the government in a bid to instil a cost for the clamour for universally-accepted women’s rights while appeasing external and international forces, mainly for economic gain. this outcome is explained by Altoaimy (2018), who confirmed that social change was a slow process, especially when the desired transformation was against long-held cultures and traditions, like in the case of Saudi Arabia and the protracted clamour for driving rights by the Saudi women. Similarly, Nussbaum (2019) noted that monarchies and authoritarian regimes often used fear to prevent social change that opened up public discursive spaces, which allowed the free expression of divergent and radical views that threatened the established authorities. In this case, the Saudi government through religious scholars repudiate the women’s right to drive by noting that it went against Islam through undermining the authority of men and perpetrating corruption. However, the male government officials were more accepting of the quality, quantity and pace of women inclusion than their female counterparts, some of whom viewing the government-led initiatives as not targeting the entire women section of the Saudi society and lacking is sufficient quality. The diversity of opinions regarding the transformative outcome of government initiatives in women empowerment can be explained using the communications theory of power in which communication styles and content were used deliberately to change or maintain the power structure in society depending on the societal hierarchical structure, which are well captured in the literature, especially the articles by Castells (2013), Fortunati (2014), Nechita (2012), and Reunanen and Kunelius (2020). Likewise, Wajcman (2010) captures this argument by noting that the sociotechnical process that was ongoing in the Saudi community as it embraced digital technologies had technological materiality, which inhibited or promoted specific gender power relations. The arguments by Wajcman (2010) illustrate the convergence of feminism, communication, power, and technology, and consequently, the interlinkage between the technological determinism theory and the communications theory of power, which has been well-illustrated in this study. Further, the technological determinism theory has been used by some authors in literature, Hirst (2012), Gerbaudo (2017), and Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) specifically, to demonstrate the relationship between media, technology, and societal advancement.
8.3 Social and Political Effect of Social Media as a Platform for the Women Empowerment Discourse
This section illustrates the speculating on what features of social media facilitated the women’s empowerment discourse in Saudi Arabia. Like the other social media platforms, Twitter is structured to enable instantaneous mass communication in a discussion format. However, it has unique features that help disseminate and amplify conversations and opinions. In this regard, it is appropriate for women empowerment discourses in Saudi Arabia, which is considered to have high level of interaction number among Twitter users in the Gulf region. This section discusses the structure, reach, and features of Twitter that are useful for women empowerment discourses as presented by the sentiments of the Saudi activists and government officials in this study.
Moreover, in this section, I reflect on the matter in relation to the way in which using social media as a platform for women empowerment discourse affected the current Saudi’s social and women’s right contexts. It discusses social media as an engagement platform, examines the types of women empowerment discourses running on social media platforms, and explores examples of effective use of social media in social and political discourses.
8.3.1 The Non-Discriminatory Structure of Twitter
The finding revealed that many respondents felt that Twitter as platform provides an open space to people who represent diverse society groups such as gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, and other ideological differences. The notion that Twitter promotes social justice by giving a voice to users that have an opinion on subjects and topics prevalent among Saudi women and government officials is noted by one of the male activist interviewee. This notion was supported by Bertot, Jaeger, and Hansen (2012) who noted that social media provided everyone with an opportunity to share their views and experiences. In this regard, social media promoted diversity and plurality in political and social discourses. However, the general experience has been different as explained by Awan (2014) who noted that Twitter was extensively used to promote Islamophobia. Awan (2014) goes on to note that incidences of vandalised mosques and headscarf-wearing by women featured commonly over social media conversations to demean Islam and Muslim women.
However, some perceptions of the participants in the study revealed that marginalised and hidden groups such as individuals in the LGBTQ community were able to express their opinion over Twitter, which was not possible in the physical environment or the traditional media platforms in Saudi Arabia. One certain activist interviewee was particularly elated by the opportunities social media platforms enables’ for minority voices in society, including those of the LGBTQ community. To support these observations, Dalacoura (2019) noted that the LGBTQ conversations and other social and political discourses in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries had been boosted by the use of social media during the Arab uprisings of 2011, thus, making women issues increasingly public. Yet, despite the change on the conversations of women’s empowerment, these conversations were often seen as clouded by class and political ideologies along with the neo-colonial discourse. Dalacoura (2019) argued that gender and sexuality issues were politicised to an extent that pitted the neo-colonial West ideologies against the patriarchal social structures of the Middle-East society. In this regard, Dalacoura (2019) noted that social media discussions were often polluted by non-expert opinions that castigated the practices in the Arab world and aggrandised the liberal Western way of life.
The sentiments from the participants in the study revealed that Twitter allowed Saudi men and women to discuss pertinent issues without flouting the cultural and religious norms of the physical separation of gender among strangers. The open virtual platform facilitated inter-gender understanding by enabling the Saudi men and women to explore and deliberate their beliefs, concerns, and apprehensions regarding social and political issues in the country, as highlighted by an activist interviewee. Notably, on Twitter, many longstanding traditions on gender roles were challenged in a benign environment. In this regard, Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan (2013) argue that social media was used by the political groups to advance their ideas without being discriminated against or restricted. Notably, the discourse about the position of women in the Saudi society was seen as a topic that brought together traditional social with political opponents to the same discussion table. Similarly, Addawood (et al., 2018) demonstrate how both men and women used Twitter in conversations about women driving in Saudi Arabia. Although the issue has more supporters than opposers, women were more opinionated regardless of whether they agreed or disagreed with the policy change. Besides, Mourtada and Salem (2011) note that many stereotypes associated with Arab women and youth had been debunked over online conversations leading to these marginalised segments of the Saudi society to take up leadership roles in spearheading social and political change.
In the same vein, Twitter helped the Saudis to circumvent government restrictions by providing a communication platform that was not suppressed by mediators, as was the case with traditional media platforms. In this regard, social media forums provided an avenue for Saudis to vent their frustrations, address government rhetoric, and gather following on ideologies and issue that are usually not tolerated by the Saudi government. An activist participant noted that social media sites “produced alternative and opposing rhetoric” in a space characterised as “narrow…authoritarianism and political patriarchy” to demonstrate the opening up of communication spaces in Saudi Arabia. Odine (2013) made similar observations by noting that social media has opened up for Arab women since the Arab Spring by revealing alternative platforms for passing empowerment messages. It provided relief from the tightly controlled government-owned media, which is perceived to suppress women issues routinely.
Similarly, Twitter allowed intergenerational conversations to occur. The younger Saudi generation could engage their older counterparts in deconstructing the age-old traditions in the country. For instance, a female activist observed that Twitter was preferred by young people, while WhatsApp as used by the older counterparts. In this regard, young Saudi women, who were better educated and had more exposure than their parents, engaged with domestic and international communities on pertinent matters that conflicted with their existence. However, these conversations converged in conversations held following news items that were posted on media websites with social media links. Notably, the Human Rights Watch website often hosted stories related to issues afflicting Saudi women and invited comments through their social media links as noted earlier (Human Rights Watch, 2020).
8.3.2 Global Reach of Twitter
Twitter has no spatial and temporal boundaries, which could enable people from diverse geographical locations to communicate at any time of day and night. This liberalising effect of Twitter on communication is important in Saudi Arabia where physical social contact is monitored and many Saudi women are unable to travel beyond their local confines. Notably, Twitter bridges the communication space between the elite and marginalised women in the country, thus, giving them equal access to multiple audiences, including the government’s ear. Addawood et al. (2018) argued that the Twitter conversations on women driving in Saudi Arabia had attracted local and international audiences from all walks of life and thus, had international participants in the online discussions (. Moreover, Marzouki and Oullier (2012) support the global reach of social media when they observed that it facilitated the speedy exchange of information across the world, thus, empowering people significantly. Similar sentiments were held by Aljuwaiser (2018) who note that Twitter enables scalable sociality because of its public structure. Therefore, to many Saudi women, Twitter served as the gateway to the world and all the empowerment issues it embraces therein.
8.3.3 Twitter’s Ability to Enable Diverse Communication Modes
Twitter has special features that provide options for different communication styles, intentions, and outcomes. In this regard, Twitter can be used to communicate briefly on text, follow a discussion through hashtags, agree with opinions using the like function, reply to a conversation, and amplify a conversation using the retweet function. In addition, Twitter allows the embedding of videos and photos to augment its text capabilities. Moreover, Twitter does not allow the editing of messages once they have been sent or received which avoids unscrupulous transformation of messages without the authors’ consent. These features facilitate the dissemination of women empowerment messages to diverse audiences. Hitchcock and Young (2016) note that Twitter allowed live chats through which users could agree to discuss an issue on a given topic at certain agreed-upon time. They observed that this feature was often used for educational purposes but also has potential as a women empowerment tool. Similar observations were made about social media by Hutchins (2016) who observed that social media offered a media ecology mix comprising of different platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, with diverse capabilities. This diversity enabled people to employ diverse actions, strategies, and communications to address social and political issues.
This section demonstrates that Twitter has sufficient features that facilitate the conduct of women empowerment dialogues. These features were tested successfully during the Arab Spring and motivated the propagation of the empowerment agenda across Saudi Arabia thereafter. Twitter served as a tool for voicing the issues afflicting women, for advancing normative change, for instigating political participation, for disseminating news, and for mobilising people around issues related to women empowerment (Altoaimy 2018; Li, Dombrowski and Brady, 2018; Melissa et al., 2015). In this regard, Twitter should be valued by the government and women empowerment activists although it should be regulated to avoid misuse such as advancing criminal acts and perpetrating human rights violations against women, and other repressive practices. In support of the regulatory aspect, Obar and Wildman (2015) note that concerns about official misrepresentation, abuse of freedom of expression, and privacy violations necessitated the calls for social media regulation. The great anonymity that Twitter provides and the higher focus on information transmission rather than relationship formation presents both benefits and challenges to the women empowerment agenda. Halpern, Valenzuela, and Katz (2017) note that although Twitter provided numerous affordances and appealed to the internal efficacy of the user, it was limited in reciprocity as the user does not necessarily have to request information to receive it. Moreover, Oz, Zheng and Chen (2018) observed that although Twitter users could be impolite and uncivil, these problems occasionally emerged in the dialogues concerning the empowerment of Saudi women. Consequently, with a good balance between liberal and responsible use of Twitter, along with responsible control of internal efficacy, the Saudi government should not fear losing control of its citizenry as the social media platform would facilitate national dialogue among all stakeholders so long as the government implements the agreed interventions and reforms promptly.
However, while there is vast agreement about the communicative capacities of social media platforms, like Twitter, their ability to mobile people to the level of a social media revolution remained doubtful, especially in countries that had not enjoyed undeterred digital activism. For instance, Gerbaudo (2012) indicated that Twitter effectively served the role of facilitating internal coordination rather than a recruitment platform. The role of recruiting new people was better served by Facebook instead. Similar sentiments were echoed by Lindgren (2013) who argues that social media were tools for coordinating publics that were already networked. Therefore, they could not foment a social media revolution that is akin to that mastered by physical protests. Lindgren (2013) notes that the application of social media for mobilising masses of people, enlisting their participation, and promoting activism would be obstructed by the government and large media houses. These entities had the capacity to dominate public discourse to such an extent that could not be countered substantially and sufficiently by the discourses over social media. Lindgren (2013) also argues that social media activism was plagued with slacktivism. Slacktivism was the lacklustre support for a social or political cause using social media conversations and activities. It was characterised by minute commitment and effort to advance a cause such that it would not result in a significant political or social change. Rather, slacktivism manages to only exhibit the support of the social media user by promoting a feel-good emotion in the social movement participants (Glenn, 2015). Glenn (2015, p. 81) explains that slacktivism, which was a term combining the words “slacker” and “activism” was characterised by the lack of capacity to mobilise people or resolve a social or political issue, due to the limitations that were inherent in social media platforms. Specifically, Twitter users often watched the discourses occurring between active parties and activists and responded by clicking on “like” and “retweet” without any further action. From these explanations, many of the Saudi women may be mere spectators in the women empowerment discourse without having any significant effect in mobilising proponents or even sharing their opinionated sentiments. Therefore, by not amassing sufficient masses of women that advance the empowerment and rights cause, Twitter may be handicapped in amplifying the discourses enough to capture the attention of the Saudi authorities or move them to action promptly. This may explain why the Saudi authorities delayed for extended periods before responding positively to the women’s demands. For instance, although the Saudi women had been clamoring for driving rights since the 1990s, they gained them only in 2018 following external pressures and several false starts (Syed, Ali and Hennekam, 2018). Khosravinik (2017) also explains the handicaps of Twitter in amassing huge followership and amplifying radical political and social opinions using the filter bubbles and echo chambers that were promoted by social media platforms. Filter bubbles and echo chambers enlisted the support of like-minded people during social and political discourses but prevented them from holding any meaningful interactions and conversations among themselves and with others. Again the features in Twitter, namely, “retweet”, “like”, and “follow” promoted filter bubbles and echo chambers and promoted the circumvention of real conversations. Khosravinik (2017) noted that these aspects of social media had hampered conversations around pertinent political, social, and economic issues, such as the election of President Trump and Brexit.
Moreover, the competence of using Twitter could be another handicap that may have hampered the level of engagement with empowerment and rights discourses among the Saudi women. Twitter, like the rest of the social media platforms, was a recent technological development that could be used efficiently by the millennials and not well enough by the older generation. Similarly, some women in Saudi Arabia may lack sufficient familiarity with such platform to engage with the empowerment and rights discussions or multicultural audiences over social media. Moreover, there could be inequalities based on class, exposure, and gender, which could influence the ability of the Saudi women to engage intimately and constructively with empowerment and rights discourses. Indeed, Twitter has a 280-charater limit, which required conversations to be truncated or coded to deliver the desired message. The use of hashtags could further impede the communication ability of users that were not familiar with Twitter.
8.3.4 Social Media as an Engagement Platform for Women
Saudi women have increasingly resorted to social media as a liberator in social interactions. Social media platforms are influential factor for breaking the structural barriers in women’s interaction and enabling open discussion regarding issues pertinent to them. Social media has special qualities that encourage women participation in pertinent discourses. For instance, social media could guarantee anonymity, which protects women against the possible backlash from society and government. In this regard, social networking sites offer a largely unrestricted substitute to traditional media, such as radio, television, and print, which were highly regulated by the government, as observed by number of respondents. More specifically, an activist interviewee noted that social media enabled open participation without consideration of social class. The participant isolated Twitter as an open space that facilitates the exchange of ideas and interactions. This helps overcome the constraints imposed by the elite, who control the public narrative and dominate over the voices of the lowly-placed women in society, a view presented clearly by two respondents. These findings are corroborated by Bertot, Jaeger and Hansen (2012), who observed that social media was surpassing traditional media in popularity as more people adopt digital technologies. Moreover, the presumed credibility of information enjoyed by traditional media was being outweighed by the visibility given to previously conspicuous issues. Similarly, Chaudhry (2014) notes that while the Saudi government was able to restrict and control mainstream media, the same level of scrutiny could not be extended to social media networks. Similar sentiments were echoed by Asur, Huberman, Sabo and Wang (2011) who argue that social media allowed discernment in perceptions about featured news as compared to traditional media outlets. This is because social media allows conversations about news items unlike traditional media, which do not allow interactivity. In the same vein, Sterns and Tennen (2016) attribute the informational freedom granted by social media to its lack of censorship, euphemism, supervision, and editorial structure, all of which constricted traditional media. Due to these reasons, social media can elevates to be an unrestricted and unbiased platform on which social and political debate are conducted without regarding to race, social status, gender, or age.
Furthermore, social media platforms were considered to be diverse and pluralistic because of the wide communication and interaction options they present to users. In this regard, social networking sites brought together people of varied and conflicting opinions without breeding personal antagonism. Women could discuss sensitive topics that divided number of groups within the society without animosity between participants or claims of superiority for certain positions. This observation concurred with the findings of Al-Saggaf and Simmons (2015) that indicate that social media platforms facilitated the expression of emotions, government criticisms, and in-depth conversations about pertinent national issues better than traditional media. Additionally, they reiterated that social media provided an uncensored, pluralistic, and diverse space devoid of state control, which enabled people to criticize the authorities, while expressing their perceptions and emotions relating to pertinent issues. Similarly, Sterns and Tennen (2016) note that social media enables the youth to voice and share their traumatising experiences with a view to influence the polarising gender regulations and laws in Saudi Arabia.
Social media interactions were a subtle force for change among Saudi women as they embraced the popular positions presented on social media. The democratising effect of social media has been studied widely and affirmed. In this regard, the social networking sites provide a free and fair platform where all users can interact as equals, without being directed by the social elites. This has allowed often overlooked issues and the voices of the marginalised to surface and gain a global audience. For instance, few women activist interviewees acknowledged that social media allowed diverse opinions to be aired and questioned, while government officials felt that social media presented growing women empowerment discourses that reflected the level of change in the country. The social media’s potential to bring about change has been discussed extensively. Halpern and Gibbs (2013) note that social media networks facilitate political discussions, particularly those related to the presence or absence of democracy, and how the political environment influences the lives of people. Similarly, Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan (2013) reveal that social networking sites have become popular platforms for political debate and participation. In this sense, the discourses conducted over social media, particularly by the youth, often revolved around the need for change. Therefore, by increasing the visibility and audience of suppressed issues and the voices of the marginalised sections of society, social media acted as a tool of cyber activism that could be employed to instigate social, political, and legal changes, as stated by González-Bailón, Borge-Holthoefer and Moreno (2013), Newton (2020), and Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia (2014). Specifically, Bevington and Dixon (2007) and Morrice (2019) show that technological advancements had altered how activism happened and how people called for change in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia (2014) reveal that the use of social media in social and political activism had shifted the nature of activism from its traditional approach to the technology-enabled approach of cyber activism. However, Mansell and Hwa (2015) and Morrice (2019) posit that effective activism required collective challenge, which when coupled with social solidarity, could precipitate into a change movement that sought to enhance the existing conditions.
Social media has become a conduit for amassing collective consciousness and gathering momentum for radical female and feminist movements. Social media platforms raise awareness about facing repression, marginalisation, and abuse. In this regard, many Saudi women who grew up in conservative homes and thus considered these family practices as normal. However, after engaging in social media, they realised the follies of these traditional and uniquely Saudi practices. Therefore, when they highlight their plight over Twitter, they can get support from others with similar experiences. These observations from this study were indicative of the growing virtual collective consciousness (VCC) being increasingly mediated by social media among Saudi women. Notably, few interviewees recognised the positive influence that social media had on collective consciousness about human rights and repressive societal norms, rendering it a formidable force for advancing social change within Saudi Arabia and around other Gulf states. For instance, two of the activist interviewees observed that social media has helped raise awareness about the right to drive for Saudi women, while another women’s activist interviewees noted that the discourses were increasingly dealing with women’s issues. These views corroborated with that of Marzouki and Oullier (2012), who are credited for the coining of the term VCC in their bid to explain how social media serve as a platform where people can think and act collectively on economic, social, and political issues. Although the collective consciousness in Saudi Arabia had not reached the proportions of the Arab Spring, social media in Saudi Arabia was already showing signs of fostering collective movement for advancing gender equality and political transformations. Similar views were echoed by Halpern and Gibbs (2013), who observed that social media were efficient in catalysing online democratic discourses about issues that afflict people. However, the study revealed that in Saudi Arabia, radical movements are only confined to lifestyle issues and do not delve deep into criticism of the monarchy explicitly. The Saudi authorities worked hard and made vested interests in pro-government social media campaigns that admonished activists in the country (Graham-Harrison, 2018). Similarly, the Human Rights Watch (2020) reported that the Saudi authorities started targeting and clamping down on political activists and dissenting groups in 2017 by engaging in abusive and arbitrary actions. Therefore, psychological empowerment remains a lofty dream for activists of women empowerment. This is consistent with Van Stekelenburg and Klandermans (2017), who acknowledge the occurrence of disengagement when gratification was insufficient and commitment to the social course was declining.
However, social media platforms differ in the depth of discourse they support. Therefore, women needed to be familiar with the use of social media while voicing their views and holding virtual discussions about pertinent issues affecting their lives. In this regard, the study revealed that Twitter accommodated both active and passive participants. Active communicators could initiate conversations and develop catchy hashtags to inspire conversation. In turn, other active communicators could reply and comment on other opinions in the thread. In contrast, passive communicators could simply retweet or like ongoing conversations to register their support for the topic. This conformed with Yu’s view (2016), who observed that while active and passive users of social media engaged in non-political discourses, political expression emerged from continued engagement with non-political issues. The unrestricted nature of social media requires careful consideration when engaging in political discourses involving women’s issues. Social media conversations are prone to misinformation through fake news and politically-motivated propaganda. Many participants in online conversations in the study revealed that they felt that the government sometimes modified their online messages to influence women’s perceptions on certain pertinent issues. Others used the platforms to correct the misinformation being spread about Saudi society by reputable Western media houses. This is an aspect in which the use of social media by Saudi women differed from that by Saudi officials. For instance, an activist interviewee once felt provoked by a news item posted in the New York Times by a woman who claimed to be a queen in Saudi Arabia, which misinformed the public about Saudi women. This interviewee felt obligated to set the record straight and raise awareness about the correct position of Saudi women on social media, which was a more accessible alternative than traditional media. Similarly, fellow activist decried the proliferation of fake Twitter accounts that were used to propagate misinformation for the government’s benefit. The fake news and political misinformation issues have been raised by Radcliffe and Bruni (2018) who attribute the rise of fake news in Saudi Arabia to the increase in bot-generated tweets, which increased from 17% to 28% between 2017 and 2018. Therefore, the fears of the women empowerment activists were justified, especially if the government did not reign in on the tweet bots. Moreover, Tandoc, Lim and Ling (2018) argue that fake news is often propagated to advance particular people’s agendas or ideas while discrediting others. Therefore, Saudi women needed to be well-versed with social media to distinguish authentic discourses related to their issues from those that aimed to create a good reputation for the government.
However, the call for restrictions of social media users that abused the platforms was surprising and unexpected. Although this study established that the Saudi women had embraced the expanded affordances provided by social media platforms, especially those that enabled the unfettered engagement in discourses about sensitive social and political topics, many others felt that those that misused these platforms should be restrained. Moreover, the study revealed that many Saudi women were careful not to express negative sentiments related to the Saudi government. These sentiments can be explained by the awareness of the Saudi women regarding the government’s wish to preserve the Saudi culture and Islamic traditions. The Saudi women may agree with their government’s efforts to avoid external and foreign influences that would obliterate their culture and heritage. Alternative, the Saudi women may be cautious not to irk their government, considering that they had witnesses its actions against religious and political dissidents. This may be explained by the normalisation of surveillance and censorship such that the Saudi women has accepted and internalised the dominance of their government and its right as the moral compass for the Saudi society. Dencik and Hintz (2017) describe this phenomenon as surveillance realism that was manifested as the chilling effect. This means that the Saudi womenfelt disempowered by the limited options they had for challenging the status quo or confronting their government. Consequently, the Saudi women may harbour feelings of demotivation and disincentive to challenge the power establishment or pursue radical social change. Dencik and Hintz (2017) note that such apathy has been witnessed in the United Kingdom and the United States after Snowden’s WikiLeaks disclosures. It also indicates that the Saudi women were engaging in self-censorship by avoiding abrasive conversations over social media, despite the freedom it afforded them. Dencik and Hintz (2017) explain that self-censoring was one of the outcomes of normalisation of government-led surveillance and censorship. It is also likely that the Saudi women had not sought strategies to circumvent the censorship and surveillance from their government. De Vries (2018) notes that black transparency tools had emerged to circumvent the corporate and governmental restrictions and lack of transparency. In this case, black transparency tools could be used by the advocates of women’s empowerment and rights to unearth the reluctance, dehumanising strategies, and other secrets that the Saudi government held to suppress intense and radical political and social discourses. However, this study did not present any evidence of the proponents of women’s discourses to employ such tactics to persuade their government to take action and improve the rights and empowerment of the Saudi women.
8.3.5 Types of Women Empowerment Discourses on Social Media Platforms
From the findings, it emerged that Saudi women engaged in a wide variety of discussions reflecting their empowerment agendas. These conversations ranged from taboo topics, such as contraceptives and reproductive health issues, to more openly discussed ones related to religion, politics, and law. Notably, conversations over social networking sites have transformed greatly as women have gained confidence and a better understanding of the social and political issues that affect them. More precisely, the findings revealed that women had changed from making enquiries over these platforms to engaging in deep discussions about problems, at least according to the government, as revealed by an official interviewee. These transformations indicate a level of psychological empowerment as the grasp of social and political issues improves among Saudi women. A male official observed that the younger generations are highly articulate and active in initiating such conversations on social media. Similarly, social media enabled Saudi women to participate in discussing taboo topics beyond the confines of their homes and privacy. These developments were demonstrated by Bahkali and colleagues (2015), who note that Saudi women were seeking information about reproductive health on Twitter, including breastfeeding advice, pregnancy related information, and gynaecological advice. Similarly, Mahboub et al. (2015) conducted a study to unearth Saudi women’s attitudes towards contraceptives through a Twitter survey. The participation of 305 women in this study demonstrated the openness with which Saudi women were willing to discuss reproductive health issues on social media.
Additionally, Saudi women question the laws in the country that affect them directly, such as the guardianship requirement and prohibition on driving. These topics often kick off discussions on culture and religion, which can be divisive in a conservative society like Saudi Arabia. With these topics, questions on the association between religion and tradition often emerge, with the religious basis of laws often being confused with Saudi traditions. In this regard, women have protested against the guardianship law and driving ban, by posting videos of their violations, which caused the Saudi government to take action, albeit a delayed one. Women activists argue that these laws are based on tradition rather than Islamic requirements. For instance, this official interviewee complained about the governmental, religious, and social barriers that stifled women empowerment. In the same vein, one of the male activists supported the government’s current initiatives, but emphasised the need for value-based government interventions that incorporate the cultural context of the Saudi women to deliver real empowerment. Therefore, the government explains its position and actions over social media by asserting that it had reduced the number of circumstances requiring guardianship and legalised driving, to empower women. These findings can be explained by Syed, Ali and Hennekam (2018) who assert that the entrenchment of wasta maintained the status quo in the sociocultural issues by promoting family honour and modesty among women, continuing discrimination and segregation on the basis of gender. Van Geel (2016) went on to offer some insight into gender segregation issues that pervade conversations in Saudi Arabia and the controversy they generate. Although gender segregation in public places is anchored in the interpretation of Islam, which is adopted by the Saudis, its institutionalisation and practice have earned it advocates, who accept it and opposers, who detest it (ikhtilat). The discussions revolve around Islamic history, traditions, and customs related to the nature of men and women. However, with increased women empowerment, the proportion of women who accept working with male counterparts under unavoidable circumstances (darura) has also increased. Similarly, Cornwall (2016) forwarded a broader perception, seeing women empowerment initiatives and pathways as aiming to build critical consciousness, engage frontline social and political intermediaries, forge collective power and adjust power relationships that marginalized women, and imagine women differently from the stereotypical and traditional perceptions. However, the Saudi environment is unique when it comes to addressing women empowerment issues, which should be appreciated when assessing online communications. Metcalfe (2011, p. 131) insisted that women in the Arab Gulf states needed backing to create their version of “Islamic feminism” and develop “feminist agency” to advance their empowerment agenda.
Conversations about women’s plights, such as arrests, molestations, and violations have permeated the cyberspace in Saudi Arabia and internationally. Usually, the women who initiate these conversations are located outside the country. Saudi women in the country refrained to some extent from engaging in scathing conversations about controversial matters, especially when they were related to Saudi culture or religion, fearing dire consequences for their pleas. It is evident that Saudi women are well aware that their government was monitoring their activities on Twitter and could trace those that posted such conversations. Although there was no evidence from this study that the Saudi government was actively and openly observing its citizenry, the Saudi women did not wish to take any chances and test the government’s resolve to stem political and social dissent. Therefore, it is likely that the Saudi government was using covert means to administer its surveillance and censorship strategy to avoid being classified alongside Tunisia, China, and Iran, which Trottier and Fuchs (2014) has identified as being notorious in stifling digital activism and restricting the use of social media. These countries had used extreme measures, such as blocking social media platforms, conducting denial-of-service attacks, and filtering online content.
It is no wonder that some women empowerment activists and government officials called for increased monitoring of the cyberspace, and particularly social media networks, based on concerns of them being misused, as mentioned by few of interviewees. The study findings reveal that online conversations held by many Saudi women were cultured and socially embedded. Notably, many of the women participating in these conversations were young and highly educated and were therefore exposed culturally and socially to practices beyond their national orientation. Due to these reasons, many of these conversations criticised the cultural insensitivity of the government’s interventions and practices. However, these online conversations did not translate to fully-fledged offline activism or protests. Dookhoo (2019) supports these findings by indicating that millennials were actively involved in digital activism, considering that they were digital natives who were comfortable with advanced information and communication technologies. Moreover, although the millennials exhibited a high level of digital activism, they demonstrated slackticism because they were sceptical about the social media’s ability to have any impact on offline activism. Clearly, the Saudi women did not intend to take their protests to the streets of Riyadh, as is advocated by Gerbaudo (2012), instead, they preferred to engage in digital activism, which presented lower risks of attracting the government’s wrath.
Moreover, conversations indicated that successful women were not receiving the requisite accolades for their achievements. The few conversations conducted online on this issue by successful women were dominated by well-placed women in society and public organisations and are thus not representative of the typical Saudi woman. Essentially, online conversations by women criticised the overemphasis on the results of government initiatives rather than the expansion of women’s opportunities. Thus, many women participating in online conversations were pessimistic about the ability of the few privileged women to champion any meaningful reforms advancing women empowerment. Hodges (2017) explain this scenario by observing that although professional Saudi women were keen to advance to leadership positions, they remained challenged by the traditions and laws in the country. From another perspective, Van Geel (2016) explain these scenarios as epitomising the divide between the conservatives and liberals among women in Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries. According to Van Geel (2016), the two groups are conflicted on the position of Saudi women in the community, with the conservatives supporting women’s guardianship, while the liberals were for gender equality. Conversely, Newsom and Lengel (2012) maintains that the divisive conversations had been bridged by social media, thus helping dissipate social and political tension and boosting social and legal transformations. This demonstrates that there were glaring inequalities among the Saudi women, which undermined the attainment of social justice. This differs from the situations in Greece and Spain in which millions of people were mobilised and won the public opinion, which resulted in the downfall of the elected governments and transformation of the political systems (Gerbaudo, 2017). Indeed, there was no indication from this study that the women’s advocates intended a similar outcome of their activism.
Examples of Effective Use of Social Media for Social and Political Discourses
Social media has been effectively used by Saudi to advance social and political discourses on numerous occasions. The study revealed that many Saudi women found outlets of their pent-up frustration on social media, while others turned to the platforms to highlight their plights. Social media has thus been used to update the public on the actions of families and the government in cases involving individuals who flouted cultural and religious norms, family demands, or government decrees.
For instance, social media, and especially Twitter, has been used by several young Saudi women to call for help against threats over their lives and other injustices perpetrated by male family members and the government. Moreover, social media has been used by Saudi women to marshal people against diverse practices that were considered discriminatory and oppressive and called for action from the Saudi government. Kefah Ehraj’s “stop embarrass us” campaign is notable for mobilising women empowerment activists and social media influencers against the embarrassing moments that Saudi women experienced attended to by men during shopping for personal items. Although the government responded by delivering a cabinet decision that obligated shop owners to redesign their stores to accommodate women shoppers, officials blamed the business people for the delayed compliance. Similar uses of social media were highlighted by the New York Post in 2019, which narrated how Dina Ali and Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun used social media to highlight their plight and call for help against being returned to Saudi Arabia. These women were fleeing their country and had been detained at transit airports awaiting deportation back home (Vincent, 2019). Similarly, news about two Saudi sisters who were found dead in Hudson River in the United States after escaping from their home in 2017 was shared globally. They feared returning home and preferred harming themselves instead, according to the police (Vincent, 2019). These incidents triggered conversations about the repressive paternal practices in Saudi Arabia, where women are physically abused by men, particularly in their families. In addition, conversations about the guardianship laws permeated the cyberspace following these disclosures. The use of Twitter by Al-Qunun is particularly notable because she was able to get help from the United Nations as her father sought to repatriate her from an airport hotel room in Bangkok, where she was on transit to Australia. Further, she has kept the public updated through Twitter after gaining asylum in Canada through the United Nations Refugee Agency (Vincent, 2019). Similar use of social media was reported by Mendes, Ringrose and Keller (2018) who narrate how the hashtag #MeToo was used by Alysa Milano to publicise her sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein on Twitter in 2017. This campaign initiated a social discourse around rape by influential people in society, prompting Terry Cruz to come out and share her traumatising experience. In the same vein, #BeenRapedNeverReported was another Twitter campaign that raised awareness about misogyny, sexism, and rape culture that had become entrenched and normalised in society (Mendes, Ringrose and Keller, 2019). These campaigns were so persuasive that thy exposed several people who had their contracts terminated and were subjected to legal actions, resulting in radical and normative changes in the entertainment industry.
In other cases, social media has been used to interrogate the feelings about public policies and question cultural and religious beliefs. Similar findings were acknowledged by Al Rashedi and colleagues (2015), who demonstrated that a majority of Saudi women felt that social media enables gender inclusion in politics, advances women’s rights, encourages civil participation, helps communicate opinions in public, and empowers role models for social transformation. Similarly, Guta and Karolak (2015) were convinced that social networking sites brought new realities to women living in patriarchal societies and helped them conceptualise their gendered selves in a global context. However, Song (2019) argues that Saudi women’s empowerment was premised on religion-based cultural and ideological restrictions. Essentially, when participating in social and academic discussions, Saudi women supported or rejected the established gender identity norms in their country using religious justifications (Song, 2019). Similarly, Tonnessen (2016) revisited a rape case in 2007 that was highly publicised in the international media, about a 19-year old woman who was raped and convicted, while the culprits were let off with much lighter punishment. In the same vein, Haddad (2017) reveals how rapists were exonerated of their wrongdoings when they married their rape victims, thus avoiding punishment for their heinous acts. Haddad (2017) and Tonnessen (2016) reveal that the Quran did not prescribe how to handle or punish rape, thus designating the practice as tazir. Consequently, the Islamic law imposed no particular legal or religious sanctions against rape, instead focusing more on sexual segregation issues. In this regard, Harrison (2007) narrates how a raped woman was sentenced to 6 months in prison and given 200 lashes for violating the gender segregation law. All in all, media houses publish news items related to women affairs in Saudi Arabia and provide social media links to invite conversations. Human Rights Watch was one such website that brought together media house news items, along with social media conversations.
This section demonstrates the conversational power inherent in social media platforms, and particularly Twitter, which is able to attract and sustain women empowerment issues occurring in Saudi Arabia in the global public domain. Conversations that have been initiated by individual aggrieved women have reached large global audiences and gained support from women empowerment activists around the world, and not just within Saudi Arabia. Notably, the world has become aware of the injustices that Saudi women experience by their families and government policies, thus attracting the attention of activist organisations, such as the Human Rights Watch. For instance, the Human Rights Watch (2020), with the help of notable international media houses, such as Reuters, picks up the social media conversations and amplifies the issues for global audiences. In this regard, many people outside Saudi Arabia may not have known that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development runs women’s shelters that imprison women for escaping their homes, and that they can only be released upon being married or reconciling with their families (Human Rights Watch, 2020). To reinforce the usefulness of social media as a women empowerment conversation platform, Halpern and Gibbs (2013) note its ability to catalyse deliberations on social and political issues, while Samin (2012) views it as a technological tool that the Saudis leveraged to debate sensitive and controversial issues afflicting women in the country. Further, Newsom and Lengel (2012) demonstrate that social media was better at disseminating gendered issues and making them visible, unlike traditional media that was often censored in the country. Moreover, Bertot, Jaeger and Hansen (2012) acknowledge the ability of inserting user-generated content as a big advantage of social media over traditional media. In this regard, social media has proved to be an indispensable tool for advancing the pursuit of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia.
8.3.6 Extent of Engagement of the Saudi Government with Activists and Their Discourse on Women Empowerment
This section answers the question about the extent to which the Saudi government engaged with activists and their discourse on the women empowerment situation. The study revealed that Vision 2030 helped the government engage with women by laying out the topical issues that the government felt were pertinent to women in the Saudi society. Although the transformation program addresses diverse issues, it singled out women as the major beneficiaries. In this regard, the role played by this initiative in advancing women empowerment and in initiating the empowerment conversations in Saudi Arabia is discussed. Moreover, the types of conversation that occur between the government and activists of women empowerment are explained and compared against other discourses globally. The uniqueness of the Saudi conversations is highlighted. Besides, the level of engagement between the government and activists is discussed against their influence on policies targeting women. In this regard, this section discusses the role played by Vision 2030 in advancing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia and the conversations it has initiated over social media, the types of discourses that transpire between the government and women empowerment activists, and the influence of these conversations on women-targeted policies and programs.
8.3.7 Role of Vision 2030 on Saudi’s Women Empowerment
The findings revealed that Vision 2030 played a pivotal role in advancing women empowerment is Saudi Arabia, as part of the societal modernisation strategy of the Saudi government. Many Saudis agreed that if it were not for Vision 2030, Saudi women would have remained marginalised and disenfranchised, therefore, undermining the modernisation process in the Saudi society. These perceptions were particularly common among government officials and a few activist participants. Indeed, a couple of official interviewees indicated that women had been involved in the drafting of Vision 2030, which demonstrated the involvement of women in political discourses. Contrastingly, few activist interviewees held a pessimistic view of the empowerment potential of Vision 2030 for women because it focused more about economic issues and ignored the numerous humanitarian hardships that Saudi women undergo. Consequently, there was also considerable agreement among activists and government officials that Vision 2030 focuses more on the economic empowerment of women because of the importance of women’s participation as labour in the national economy. The increase in women’s participation in workplaces and inclusion in high corporate and political positions are viewed as emancipation due to the government program. Notably, Alzahrani (2017) noted that the transformation plan presented in Vision 2030 aims at developing a thriving economy while also promoting societal vibrancy and ambition (. In this regard, access to education and attainment of university qualifications are prioritised by Vision 2030. Moreover, learning English is directed towards enabling Saudis’ to communicate in global platforms and participating more in the labour markets and business activities. This plan is projected to advance Saudi Arabia towards becoming a knowledge-based economy rather than an oil-based one, considering that the country’s oil reserves are finite and depleting rapidly. However, Saqib (2016) reveals that the empowerment initiatives have resulted in the number of women exceeding the number of jobs available, causing 28% unemployment among Saudi women. Therefore, women employment has become another women empowerment issue raised by Vision 2030. Nonetheless, Nuruzzaman (2018) reveals that Vision 2030 needed to go further than economic empowerment by improving the communication infrastructure, especially that of digital communications, to enable awareness building using social media. Nuruzzaman (2018) asserts that the Saudi government needed to lower the fees on connectivity devices and equipment, while expanding Internet connectivity among Saudis to enable them to realise the political, economic, and social aspirations of Vision 2030 through social media.
However, the study reveals the agendas of Vision 2030 as being elitist, aimed at benefiting women of higher classes in society, as noted by one of the activist respondent. Elitist initiatives, such as allowing women to drive and promoting the learning and use of English in educational institutions in Saudi Arabia, were seen to be directed towards appeasing the West rather than delivering significant empowerment. Diverse interviewees of each groups alluded to the Saudi government’s use of social media and women empowerment programs to make the authoritarian regime appeal to Western countries and the international community, and efforts to divert attention from the human rights violations and other oppressive practices. The elitist orientation of online discussions is not unique to Saudi Arabia; it has permeated the Muslim world, as revealed by Sukarieh (2015). Sukarieh (2015) apparently noted that social media discourse promoted by the Western media often denigrates Muslim women, including the elite ones, by depicting abaya and niqab as symbols of backwardness, traditionalism, and disempowerment. Sukarieh (2015) isolates the online conversation about Naglaa Mahmoud that went viral because of advanced sentiments held by Arab elites and the West regarding dress codes and accents. Such conversations threaten the goals of Vision 2030 and the Saudi empowerment agenda because they introduce foreign ideals that are not compatible with the customs of the Saudi society. Nonetheless, such conversations allowed Saudi women to assess their cultural orientation and traditional values, amid a barrage of international condemnation. Abir (2019) decries the elitist composition of the political leadership in Saudi Arabia, which left out the masses in political engagements. Ménoret (2016) supports the elitist perceptions of the Saudi government’s interventions by noting that the political elite in the country felt that Islamist ideologies were not compatible with democracy. Therefore, while the Saudi government admired the democracy that was practiced in the West, it was cautious in implementing it in the country due to the fear that it would disturb the fundamentals of the royal family ruling and caused unforeseen change.
From the study findings, it also emerged that the government was not trusted to deliver genuine empowerment because it feared the open expression of discontent and subjugation among enlightened Saudi women. The belief that Vision 2030 was used to propagate government propaganda existed, as mentioned by activist participants in particular felt that the grand plan prioritised the image of the Crown Prince, while one activist interviewee viewed the initiative as a gimmick of including women, considering no radical changes were anticipated in the Saudi societal setup. Therefore, to some women empowerment activists, Vision 2030 is seen as a self-preservation mechanism for the Saudi government, as it tries to gain favour and allegiance from its citizens, while remaining in the good books of Western nations, especially the United States. The United States is known to have beseeched the Saudi government to loosen its restrictions and allow Saudis more liberties. Therefore, the Saudi government has focused on delivering liberties that conform to Western definitions, thus lacking local relevance in most cases. In support of this observation, the Saudi government succumbed to the global pressure propagated over social media following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (Hubbard, 2019). In order to save face, the Saudi government sentenced several people to long prison sentences and even execution. Similarly, Surf and Mostafa (2016) argue that the Saudi government leveraged social media to popularise Vision 2030 as the vehicle that would liberate the Saudis socially and economically.
Altogether, although Vision 2030 sets the agenda for interactions between the government and the women empowerment activists, it presents major disparities between the idealistic expectations and the pragmatic realities of the lives of the Saudi women. It is not unusual for governments to set lofty ambitions and deliver suboptimal results when dealing with women empowerment issues. However, Saudi Arabia’s uniqueness emanates from the peculiarity and complexity of its women empowerment issues. To demonstrate these ambitions, Alsuraihi, Almaqati, Abughanim and Jastaniah (2016) observe that Vision 2030 has encouraged the use of social media in education circles, thus enabling the delivery of a higher quality of education to the Saudis, especially Saudi women. Similar sentiments were shared by Neiger et al. (2012) who observes that social media had facilitated the delivery of quality healthcare services across the country, one of the objectives of Vision 2030. Women benefited from these developments when they were able to attend to reproductive health issues, thus empowered through health education.
8.3.8 Types of Conversation between the Government and Activists of Women Empowerment
This study reveals that most conversations between the government and women empowerment activists revolved around the educational and economic empowerment of women, although they also included social, political, and psychological aspects to a lesser extent. Viewing the kinds of conversations along with the types of empowerment contextualises the discourses that occur in the public realm. Mandal (2013) categorised the types of empowerment into economic, educational, psychological, social, and political.
According to the agenda defined in Vision 2030, economic empowerment takes precedence over others because it prioritises the inclusion of women into the workforce to promote a thriving economy. Moreover, the three pillars articulated in the Vision emphasise the position of Saudi Arabia as an economic powerhouse and a strategic global hub for trading, which underlines the economic aspect. However, other themes that emerge from Vision 2030 also feature in online conversations. For instance, the Vision strives to promote national pride, preserve indigenous culture, strengthen families, and empower the Saudi society through education and healthcare. The appearance of these themes in online conversations is varied.
The study revealed that many online conversations were initiated by the government whenever it changed a policy or diverged in actions from public expectations. However, the dialogue between the government and women empowerment activists is often superficial because rather than being characterised by robust two-way interactions, each party appears to talk to the other rather than talk with them. On one side, the government officials focused primarily on supporting the government’s efforts to advance women empowerment through the programs initiated under Vision 2030. Many of them feel that the government is on the right track with its empowerment agenda and that with time, Saudi women would enjoy liberties similar to those enjoyed by other women globally. In this regard, the officials commonly defend the government’s position, which makes one question their ability to speak freely on social media platforms. These sentiments were shared by Nuruzzaman (2018), who felt that social media served as an appropriate platform for creating awareness about Vision 2030 and its empowerment ambitions. Similarly, Kinninmont (2017) defends the government’s actions by observing that Vision 2030, along with social media, was the ticket to prosperity and vibrancy in Saudi society.
On the contrary, the women empowerment activists criticise the inadequacy of government’s efforts and the belated implementation of reforms advocated in Vision 2030. They observed that all empowerment initiatives and reforms came after protracted lobbying. For instance, women’s right to vote in municipal elections and driving have only been granted recently, when other countries, including many undeveloped ones, allowed these liberties a long time ago. In this regard, the activists find no reason for the delayed implementation of some liberties, which are already common practice in other countries. Due to this reason, many Saudi women express their frustrations, hopelessness, and desperation in online conversations. This may explain why suspicion was rife among the activists, who feel that the government officials propagate propaganda to place the government in good light internationally. Althiabi (2017) affirms the effectiveness of Twitter in steering the government towards action, as observed when feminists took to it to persuade the government to reform the guardianship laws. Also, Heeks and Stanforth (2015) underscored how government leveraged social media to created and maintain social networks with their diverse publics because it served their interests, that of safeguarding their regimes and seeking global legitimacy.
Indeed, governments all over the world face lack of trust among their citizens, many government programs are perceived with suspicion. Moreover, the participation of the government in online discussions is also viewed with suspicion in many places around the globe. Further, authoritarian regimes have little trust in official declarations and conversations because they seem to defend the autocracies. However, Park et al. (2015) observe that Twitter has been used successfully by the Korean government to develop trust among citizens, especially when the tweets came from highly-placed government officials.
Yet, few issues enjoy consensus from both sides. For instance, there is general agreement between the government officials and women’s activists that the government’s initiatives are in the right direction, and if implemented properly, would empower women completely. Moreover, both parties agree that the government has not made enough efforts to empower women fully. DeLue and Dale (2016) state that a good working relationship between the government and civil society fosters social justice and a fair society. In this regard, the women discourse activists could adopt a negotiation strategy to push the government into acting on the issues that concerned women the most, without necessarily resorting to boisterous protests that would anger the Saudi government and persuade it renege on its empowerment and modernization agenda.
8.3.9 The Influence of Conversations on Women-Targeted Policies and Programs
The online conversations have influenced policies and programs targeting women empowerment in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the study revealed that the government often initiated a rumour about an impending policy change to gauge the public reaction before implementing it. For example, according to an activist interviewee, the driving permission for women was preceded by rumours indicating the eligible age being 35 years. Moreover, social media campaigns championing for Saudi women to be allowed to drive have existed since 2011. Therefore, the government’s action in 2018 is seen as a product of the sustained social media onslaught that exploded into the international media and, consequently, moved policy response.
However, the influence is not immediate because the government reacts sluggishly and often implements the initiatives in a fragmented manner rather than comprehensively. In this regard, many women empowerment activists in the country feel that the Saudi government is either not committed to implement its proposed reforms or does so in a manner that seeks to improve its international image and calm domestic apprehension. For instance, Grigsby and Friedman (2015) note that the Women2Drive Movement had to be sustained for an extended period within the country and in foreign lands, such as the United States, to persuade the government to actualise its promise.
In this regard, the government has been criticised for implementing economic programs that disregard the social and cultural realities of Saudi women, especially those living outside big cities. Policies such as those which allow women to drive, while retaining to some extant the guardianship law and religious police, have been seen by the women empowerment activists as contradictory and insensitive of the actual needs of the Saudi women. Moreover, questions on the religious and cultural correctness of government’s actions have emerged in online conversations. While the government, through Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, claims to be committed to women’s empowerment and a cultural shift, it continues to perpetuate repressive practices by allowing women to be ill-treated by their families and confining errant women in government-run shelters in subhuman conditions. While the Saudi government does not clamp down or censure such discussion, it uses its officials to provide an alternative narrative to justify its actions. To contextualise the Saudi environment, Albalawi and Sixsmith (2017) reveal that it was one of the countries in the world with leading number of Twitter users, along with many influencers who could set agendas, disseminate ideas, and influence perceptions. In this regard, this social media platform had potential to influence health outcomes and, therefore, propagate women empowerment in Saudi Arabia.
From this section, the degree of engagement between the Saudi government and women empowerment activists was varied because it was depending on the topic of discourse. The engagement demonstrates the ideological differences between the government and the women activists. Brandt and colleagues (2014) term such conversations as pitting the conservatives and liberals in which the Saudi government often adopted a conservatism stance, while the women empowerment activists advanced their liberal ideas. Although the two sides frequently acted as antagonistic social and political groups, social media provided them a platform on which their diverse views could be aired (Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan, 2013). Sometimes, these groups agreed on certain issues such as the need to regulate the cyberspace to deter misuse and promote responsible discourses that were sensitive to the Saudi context. Although the two sides often held suspicions against each other in the backdrop of international interference, Newsom and Lengel (2012) appreciates that social media helped in bridging the discourses of the two groups, thus, ultimately advancing women empowerment in Saudi Arabia, albeit in small increments.
8.3.10 Effectiveness of Social Media in Changing the Government’s Responsiveness to Citizens and Civil Society
The study revealed that the Saudi society had made significant progress in dialoguing between the government and the Saudi public. The government’s control of the public discourse was shrinking in the backdrop of increased public participation in discourses about the political and social issues afflicted them over social media. More significantly, social media had increased the Saudi government’s responsiveness to the civil society and citizenry in varied ways, ranging from unstructured and informal conversations over cyberspace, to using social media as an additional tool of communicating government policies that target the welfare of Saudis alongside addressing the concerns of the citizenry.
In this regard, social media was a tool for regime activism because it was used to communicate with the Saudis and present a semblance of interactive engagement about pertinent issues. The regime activism approach taken by the Saudi government was precautionary and aimed towards forestalling the spiraling of social and political issues into outright protests against the authoritarian regime. This stance taken by the government can be explained through the third generation strategy mentioned by Munger, et al. (2019) as the alternative of closing down the internet and censoring online content. The evidence provided by the government officials in the study indicated that the Saudi government and its agents engaged in continuous conversation with the public on social media and responded to the activists and citizens’ concerns. However, the government used the third strategy to drown the anti-regime sentiments and direct the narrative towards other issues that were besides those being articulated, in what is called regime activism (Munger, et al., 2019). By avoiding the use of the first and second generation strategies for censuring cyberactivism, it would seem that the Saudi government had learned its lessons during the Arab Spring Uprisings of 2011 when authoritative regimes, like those in Egypt and Tunisia attempted to shut down the internet (first generation strategy) amid protests, which only managed to fuel the revolts instead (Munger, et al. 2019). In the same vein, the Saudi government may have learned from China, which can block and censure content (Second generation strategy) during the use social media use across the country to avoid political and social upheavals because the social networking sites in the country are locally owned and run, unlike those in Saudi Arabia, which are American owned (Munger, et al., 2019). In this regard, Saudi Arabia has no control of the social media platforms in the country in the same manner that China has, and as such, cannot censure activism over social media to the same effectiveness of China.
The Saudi government’s responsiveness towards its citizenry can be explained using the concepts of filter bubbles and echo chambers afforded by social media platforms. In addressing the issue of women’s driving rights, the government initiated conversations over social media about the unconfirmed form of reforms and structure that driving rights would adopt, such as limiting the driving eligibility to 35 years. This was in response to the sustained cyberactivism on the issue since 2011, with the government acting positively in 2018. Posting a proposed nature of driving rights anonymously, which was taken as rumours by the Saudi public, enabled the Saudi government to influence the discourse by raising the hopes of the women’s rights activists and Saudi women generally. This hopeful discourse overshadowed the negative sentiments against the removal driving restrictions by Saudi men and clerics, and the Saudi regime’s restriction of driving rights by altering the emotions of the public and avoiding domestic mass protests and a crisis, as explained by Del Vicario et al. (2016). Notably, authoritarian regimes that are technologically savvy use social media to contain their populations by capitalising on social homophily, while at the same time, monitoring the level of resentment and cyber activism by actively engaging over social media, officially and anonymously (Boutyline and Willer, 2017). The homophily sustained by the official and unofficial engagements on social media had helped fragment cyberactivism in the country and promoted docility by inducing the fear of instability that was witnessed in other Arab countries during the Arab Spring revolutions.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Saudi government responds in a half-hearted and delayed manner, which means that manages to persuade the Saudi public towards impeding political and social reforms without providing deadlines and timelines within which such reforms would be implemented. In this regard, many Saudis avoid engaging in in-depth and critical debate about the impeding reforms for fear of upsetting the authoritarian regime. The success of the Saudi government in transmitting hope on social media can be explained using the weak tie theory, which posits that information diffusions across social networks is facilitated by weak and not strong network ties (De Meo, et al., 2014; Wright and Miller, 2010). Although the cyberactivism for women empowerment issues are driven by female activists mainly, the government initiated discourses are captured by a wide section of unrelated individuals in the Saudi society, who help propagate the narrative, often drowning that of the female activists (Wright and Miller, 2010). In this regard, the strong networks are unable to amass the critical numbers of homophilic members needed to initiate a mass countrywide revolt. In turn, the Saudi government focuses its discourses towards other issues, usually related to the economy, which often overshadow the feminist cyberactivism. In this respect, the government responds to economic issues by promising huge aid programs and redistribution of oil wealth to trivialise the women empowerment issues (Jones, 2011).
Altogether, despite the strategic use of social media by the Saudi government to prevent the formation of mass movements that can engage in mass protests, it has instituted significant reforms following concerted and sustained cyberactivism. Notably, the government has allowed women to drive and maintained hope that the male guardianship requirements would be eased, thus managing to contain the uprising that may have been centred on these issues.
8.3.11 Summary of the Chapter
From this discussion, the research questions have been addressed extensively and succinct answers have emerged. The discussion was approached topically according to the research questions posed at the beginning of the study. The research question answered in this chapter is: What is the role of social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia? The follow-up subquestions addressed in this chapter are:
- How do women’s rights activists engage with social media in Saudi Arabia?
- How do Saudi government officials engage with social media in relation to women’s rights issues?
Firstly, it can be inferred from the study that social media had facilitated the modernization of the Saudi society by promoting the formation of virtual networks, some of which were translated into physical face-to-face networks in the women-only spaces around the country. Also, engagement between the civil society and the government and that between men and women had increased appreciably, thus narrowing the power distance between these parties.
Secondly, it can be concluded that social media usage had influenced women empowerment discourses in the social and political contexts. Social media has not only amplified the topical issues that emerged within social and political circles, but has also called the government to action on several issues. Saudi Arabia had leveraged Twitter in a manner that no other country in the Arab Gulf region had, considering that it had the largest number of Twitter users among the GCC countries.
Thirdly, the level engagement between the Saudi government and women empowerment activists was suboptimal because it lacked interaction. Each side seemed to hold its own fort with little concurrence emerging from the conversations. Moreover, the discourses between the two parties were characterised by the officials defending government positions while the empowerment activists criticised government efforts. Nonetheless, the government had managed to strike a healthy balance between women empowerment activism and regulatory control in an authoritarian country, thus, forestalling the disruptive uprisings that had afflicted other neighbouring states during the Arab Spring.
Fourthly, social media platforms, and particularly Twitter, had features that helped in initiating and sustaining online conversations related to the women empowerment discourses. The conversations initiated on social networking sites could be taken up by international media houses and propagated to global audiences instantly. Moreover, conversations on these platforms could be sustained for long periods in real time, often reaching the desired audiences, including governments. The Saudi women needed to increase their expertise on the use of this platform to advance their empowerment agenda responsibly. The live chat feature of Twitter was underused in the women empowerment discourses, yet it provided a structure through which organised dialogues could be conducted.
In addition, the influence of the Saudi government on the women’s empowerment discourse is far greater than is believed currently. In this regard, the actions and inactions of the government have generated online conversations, even when the government is not as active as the women empowerment activists. The Saudi government often used Twitter to gauge the country’s mood regarding some of its proposed reforms and programs by initiating conversations over the social media platform. Vision 2030 was an influential flagship program for societal transformation and the issues contained therein guided the online discourses significantly. The continuous reference to this initiative and frequent progress reports were indicative of the government’s belief that the transformation plan was on course. In this regard, the government had deftly used the Vision 2030 agenda to direct women empowerment discourses in a manner that most Saudi women did not appreciate.
Important lessons are revealed by this chapter. Firstly, Twitter, which is a tool developed in the West, can be used successfully to stir and propagate responsible and constructive conversations involving the government and its citizens without unnecessary antagonism. This is unprecedented by the Western and highly industrialised nations, which view authoritarian regimes as repressive. Besides, Saudi Arabia has set precedence in the Gulf Region by engaging in cultural, economic, and social reforms without political transformation or a violent revolution. In any case, the Saudi government is actively trying to appear balancing the demands of its citizens against those of the international community in a way that never used to in terms of seeking a rather much better image for its way of ruling, which could aid their aim not to appear repressive or authoritative. By not forcing its citizens to accept the reforms and allowing them to assimilate to those that have been implemented, while keeping the national hope upbeat towards the promise of further transformation, is indicative of the government’s deep understanding of its social and political contexts.
9 Chapter 9: Conclusion
This research aimed to examine aspects of Saudis’ usage of social media by investigating the female empowerment discourse on social media, the participants’ motivation, and the aims for reform, as well as the official adoption of these platforms, aspects of intervention, practices of responses, and ways of interaction. The research had the following question: What is the role of social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia? Under which there are two sub-questions arose; i) how do women rights activists engage with social media in Saudi Arabia? and ii) how do Saudi government officials engage with social media n relation to women’s rights issues?
This research interpreted the views and perceptions of 31 government officials and activists of whom 20 females and 11 males living the social media experience, thus, enabled the reality of these lived experiences to be assessed through the impact that users’ thoughts have on women empowerment discourses in the social and political contexts of Saudi Arabia. The practice approach suitably answered the question why social media users utilised Twitter to advance women empowerment agenda. The narrative analysis lent meaning to their perceptions, which were constructed as stories. The discussion in the previous chapter is used to conclude how far the results of this research agree or disagree with previous studies and determine whether they conform to the available theories and notions.
9.1 Summary of Findings
This study examined the role played by social media in the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia and utilisation of social media in addressing women’s rights and empowerment issues in Saudi Arabia. More specifically, it set out to analyze how the women’s rights activists and government officials engaged with social media in matters related to women empowerment and what motivated these virtual engagements. It also assessed the level of adoption of social media by the Saudi government officials and the extent to which this initiated and advanced social and political reforms. The analyses of empirical findings assisted in determining the interaction modes and levels, response practices, and interaction approaches used on social media when engaging in women empowerment discourses. The following sections provide a summary of the key findings.
9.1.1 Media-Mediated Historical Development of the Saudi Society
The study revealed that social media had played a pivotal role in modernising the Saudi society and promoting the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia. Considering that the Saudi women previously relied entirely on traditional media and face-to-face interactions to discuss their issues, which often excluded unfamiliar men, the government, and other unfamiliar individuals, social media had opened up communicative avenues for engaging with the wider and global audience without violating the social, cultural, and religious Saudi norms, rules, and traditions. In this regard, the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, and the technological determinism theory provided the theoretical backing that explained this unfolding phenomenon in the country by contextualising the sentiments of the participating activists and government officials.
9.1.2 Collective Consciousness, Weak Ties and Social Exchange
As for the first objective, this study revealed that influence of social media, particularly Twitter, in the socio-political women’s activism in authoritarian countries is more significant than democratic countries because citizens in general and women in particular do not have many spaces to engage in socio-political discussions affecting their daily lives. Social media networks are the only available avenues for social and political interaction and activism since all traditional media forms are controlled by the government. The empirical findings indicate that Twitter has in general brought about unprecedented experiences for female activists in Saudi Arabia; the emergence of collective consciousness (VCC), the generation of social exchange and the development of weak ties.
The use of social media by women activists, initiated a way to promote their feminists discourse, and has led to the emergence of virtual collective consciousness among Saudi women, which enabled women to think and act collectively to advance gender equality and political transformations. Moreover, women activist engagement in social and political activities sustained the mutual reinforcement of each other’s behaviours during social interaction and has built up solidarity that generated social exchange, which was motivated by the unspecified reciprocity that drove the Saudi activists’ voluntary actions in the exchange process. In addition, through social media, Saudi feminist were able to raise awareness within and beyond Saudi Arabian borders, thus persuading a larger audience that would have been otherwise untenable using other mobilisation approaches and developing weak ties. The weak ties developed across the social networking sites inside and outside Saudi Arabia called the attention of Saudi women that were intimately afflicted by the denial of social and political rights in the country, and engaged foreign audiences who were enjoying these rights in their own countries. These phenomena may not have drawn scholars’ attention in if they occurred in democratic states; or even in any other Islamic state such as Iraq or Pakistan; but in the political and social context of Saudi Arabia, (where the conservative elites strive to maintain the status quo in the socio-cultural issues by promoting family honour and modesty among women, while perpetuating discrimination and segregation on the basis of gender) ignited a remarkable significance. Therefore, it can be concluded that social media platforms were fundamental in helping the women’s rights discourse gain tremendous popularity on such platforms, at a very fast pace, in addition to instigating discussions leading to solutions.
9.1.3 Women Engagement in Socio-political Discourse: Cyberactivism vs. Echo Chambers
In terms of the second objective, the findings of this study conclude that in a country where physical protests attracted high punitive repercussions, women’s empowerment activists turned to cyberactivism to advance their feminist discourse. Social media provided an alternative platform upon which the Saudi women’s socio-political rights issues have been articulated. Considering that they were operating in an authoritarian country, ruled by a totalitarian absolute monarchy along Islamist principles, women activists had benefited immensely from social media.
Although many authoritarian regimes limit the use of social media in their countries, the advocated of women empowerment in Saudi Arabia had enjoyed considerable freedom despite of their political and social circumstances. Different to China, which can block the use of social media across the country, because social networking sites in the country are locally owned and run, Saudi Arabia is unable to lock social networks because they are mostly owned by foreign companies. Moreover, Saudi Arabia do not have a tendency to block social media networks, due to economic reasons and the potentiality of politicising passive users, but there is no doubt that they have used them for censorship and surveillance. In this regard, two key factors emerged from the findings of this study that may disrupt the liberal values of the virtual public space: activists’ privacy and the incomplete freedom on the online public sphere.
The findings show that Saudi government’s used social media for regime activism. Filter bubbles and echo chambers were massively used to infringe activists’ privacy and fragment cyberactivism. Notably, authoritarian regimes that are technologically advanced use social media to contain their populations by capitalising on social homophily, while at the same time monitoring the level of anger and cyberactivism by actively engaging over social media, officially and anonymously. The homophily sustained by the official and unofficial engagements on social media had helped in inciting the fear of instability that was witnessed in other Arab countries during the Arab Spring revolutions. So far, this regime seems to have great difficulties in monitoring political online discourses in the same breath as they monitor traditional media. This does not indicate that activism and political engagement on the Internet are risk-free. In the aftermath of Edward Snowden incident, even democratic states intelligence agencies practiced mass data collection and surveillance in cooperation with international IT companies.
Moreover, it is true that the growing application of cyberactivism may create ‘slacktivism’, which is a lazy form of activism or artificial participation by which activists who participate in low political activism believe that their participation is politically impactful. It is also true that such kinds of low-risk engagement will highly not achieve any effective impact if not combined with real physical actions. However, this term does not apply to Saudi context, in which the only available space for activism is the online public sphere. The findings of this research portrayed that women’s demand for their right to drive continued for more than three decades with the same momentum.
Therefore, although Twitter has provided alternative channels for women activists to engage in socio-political discussions and to express their plights, priorities, and demands to the government, these platforms have opened up unofficial platforms for the Saudi government to identify popular undercurrents and suppress social resistance. Thus, social media offers a much liberal space and much less rule-governed space than other traditional forms of media for women to engage in socio-political discussion, but also it provides it in a much more disorderly manner.
9.1.4 Official Engagement: Women Empowerment vs. Government Propaganda
In regards to the third objective, the findings of this study provide that even authoritarian governments’ officials are eager to engage in women empowerment discourses on social media networks to address the concerns affecting women. However, the manner in which most of these governments operate is suspicious. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the government has exploited the feminist discourse and worked on this issue to propagate its own agenda and ensure its control over the socio-political transformation course. The Saudi government response to activists’ demands and aspirations can be characterised as half-hearted and superficial.
Firstly, the Saudi government responded in a delayed manner to persuade the Saudi activists towards impeding political and social reforms without providing deadlines and timelines within which such reforms would be implemented. The Saudi officials tried to transmit hope on social media by explaining its positions and actions as well as to gain support for its interventions. In fact, the government interaction aimed at maintaining the status quo in the socio-cultural issues by continuing discrimination and gender segregation. The official conversation focused primarily on supporting the government’s efforts to advance women empowerment through promoting its programs trying to convince citizens that the government is on the right track with its empowerment agenda, and that with time, Saudi women would enjoy liberties similar to those enjoyed by other women in the world. Moreover, the government launched massive pro-government activism campaigns to target the activists who doubted the government’s credibility and decency, and to prevent them from speaking freely on social media platforms. The massive pro-government activism helped propagate the government discourse, often drowning that of the female activists. In addition, the Saudi government focused its discourse towards other issues, usually related to the economy, to overshadow the feminist cyberactivism. In this respect, the government responds to economic issues by promising huge aid programs and redistribution of oil wealth to trivialise the women empowerment issues. Eventually, the government interaction on social media aimed to distract the feminist activism through introducing a reform plan that was generally viewed as a reflection of the level of change in women’s issues in the country, even though it was regarded by some female activists as self-promotion and elites’ oriented.
Secondly, the Saudi citizens-government’s interaction lacked trust and was full of suspicion which deepened the historical state of distrust between the conservatives and the liberals in the country. For three decades, women in Saudi Arabia were under the impression that driving cars, travelling without a male guardian and even obtaining official documents is against social values and Islamic rules. The sudden reform plan projected in Vision 2030, created a shock among women and generated a huge distrust in the religious institution representatives’ who switched their religious opinions fatwas to serve the Royal regime instead of acting from an Islamic perspective. It is true that citizen-government online interaction is viewed with great suspicion in many places around the globe, yet, it was used successfully in with other regimes, such as Korea. The Korean government managed to develop trust among its people, especially when the information came from highly-placed government officials. However, the Saudi government has little trust in the authorities’ statements and declarations because they usually defend a dictatorship, and this is one of the uniqueness of Saudi Arabia.
9.1.5 Online Women Empowerment Campaigns: Reliable but not Effective
As for the fourth objective, the empirical findings indicate Saudi women held different and contradictory perspectives regarding the change agenda. Women voices were divided between those who had conservative approach in airing their sentiments, which was typical with the traditional perceptions that were always associated with women in the Arab and Islamic cultures, and those who held liberal view that perceived women from a global perspective and consistent with the practices across the liberal and globalised world. Those who had liberal views turned to social media, mostly Twitter platform, to launch their campaigns because of their limited access to public locations, restricted mobility and many social and political constrains. Social media has provided women activists, particularly those located in a hostile social and political environment a transformative and rich experience to promote their discourse and challenge the authorities demanding for more rights and freedoms.
However, social media should not be regarded as a substitute sphere to normal and physical political engagement and activism, but rather, an efficient means for accessing information, sharing news, raising awareness and organising activities. These campaigns were definitely successful in generating awareness at, both, the national and international levels in addition to mobilising thousands of women to engage in these campaigns. However, the long and continuous unsatisfactory results of women’s campaigns on social media, such as Women2Drive and EndMaleGuardianship provoked extensive scepticism among the campaigners regarding the reliability of digital activism and the effectiveness of the developed weak ties in social media platforms in delivering actual change for women. Saudi women’s empowerment plans faced high wave of pessimism, which is one of the most significant barriers that minimize the planned ability to affect real change. This resulted in some policy-makers claiming that the society is not ready for a that change, as they cited a lack of social awareness which would enable the majority to accept such a radical change. In addition, Saudi activists had to face the strong legislative, religious and tribal barriers, which worked for so many years on preventing women in Saudi Arabia form developing their own version of gender identity.
Therefore, it is rather difficult to establish at this point the extent to which the fourth objective of the research has been fulfilled, but it would be valid to conclude that instigating radical change for Saudi women requires few preconditions. Necessary steps should be taken to define the features within the community that need to be dealt with in the transformation process as well as the effect they would have. In addition, it is important to question the means applied by the government to introduce the best programs to empower women. The social structure and the cultural context should be revisited and amended in order to enable women to make decisions of their own to eradicate discrimination and gender inequality. Through this process, women would be able to fully understand and prioritise their needs.
9.2 Contributions of the Research
This study has contributed to knowledge, literature, and theory by evidencing additional perspectives related to the transformations in the social media-mediated social change, by augmenting the conceptualization of networks in authoritative and collectivistic societies as mediated by digital technologies and the affordances of social media, specifically, considering that most studies have been conducted in western settings. Studies have evidenced several characteristics of the Saudi society and other societies in the Middle East, and this study confirms and dispels some of them and acknowledges that these societies are undergoing fundamental changes, currently, which threaten to change the cultural and social practices of the citizens, irreversibly. To better understand where Saudi Arabia stands in the community of nations, the concerns that technological advancement, especially social media, elicit in the high ranks of the political structure, and the behaviour of both government and citizenry within the discursive spaces created by digital technologies and the internet, it is pertinent to understand what research has revealed about the GCC countries. There is abundant evidence indicating that Saudi Arabia shares several commonalities with other nation in the GCC, although there are stark differences that make the kingdom unique. For instance, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy similar to that in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, which means that the government authoritarians and therefore dictates much of the lives of its nationals (Kuru, 2019). These Kingdoms are very patriarchal because they use the male lineage to decide who leads following the demise of the King. Therefore, these countries traditionally, and at least politically, marginalize women in political and leadership participation (Dorinde, 2020; Sassoon, 2016). It is unfathomable for a woman in Saudi Arabia to rise to the level of a Queen. In addition, these countries are deeply-rooted in the Arabic and Islamic cultures and traditions, which have very stringent gender role definitions and therefore, have been viewed by many, especially governments and the populace in western countries, to he highly-oppressive to women. The Saudi men enjoy many social, economic, and political privileges that are denied to the women. Therefore, women in Saudi Arabia, just like those in the other kingdoms in the Persian Gulf region, are largely relegated to indoor and domestic activities and must veil up when they come out in public (Golkowska, 2017). The Arabic culture teaches them to be subservient to their men and tolerate any abuses that their men dispense, which explains why the women are accused and often found guilty for facilitating rape through their social interactions, dressings, and mannerisms.
More significantly, these monarchies are scared by the power inherent in social media and what it portends to their survival, especially after witnessing its critical role in fomenting and propelling the Arab Spring events that originated in Tunisia and replicated in Algeria and Egypt, and its contribution to the overthrowing of the dictatorial political regimes in these countries (Aman and Jayroe, 2013; Breuer, Landman, and Farquhar, 2015). In the same vein, these monarchies are scared of revolutions that have been known to obliterate other monarchies, replacing them with republican Islamic governments, such as the Iranian revolution that disposed The Shah and replaced him with The Ayatollah (AlSayyad and Guvenc, 2015; Bueno de Mesquita and Smith, 2017; Droz-Vincent, 2011). In particular, the Saudi government is also cautions about its citizenry embracing other liberal forms of islam in protest agaist Wahhabism, that is sponsors and has a longstanding commitment from the Al Saud family. For these reasons, the Saudi Government is particularly wary of the possible use of social media to mobilize the Saudis against the government, and create nationwide protests and anarchy that can dispose the monarchy from power (Chaudhry, 2014). These concerns explain why monarchies in the Persian Gulf and other dictatorial regimes across the world, including Saudi Arabia, have clamped down on the use of the internet, and particularly social media, in several instances. It also explains why the Saudi government wished to restrict various aspects of social media use and the support it receives for such restrictions from many members of the Saudi society. It is interesting to note that the Saudi Government still garners support from activists and government officials alike, when it comes to protecting the country from western ideals or radically different practices of Islam and Arab culture. This insight is unique because it explains the societal phenomenon of social media in Saudi Arabia, a confirmed case of authoritarian rule, in which its users vent off their social, cultural, and religious frustrations on social media platforms without fomenting a full-blown call for a revolution or change of the current regime.
However, these countries also have a large youth population that is highly educated and embraces digital technologies readily. These countries, including Saudi Arabia, send scores of their youth to universities in the United States, United Kingdom and other western countries, while some of them have allowed foreign universities to set up branches locally (Wilkins, 2011). Many of these graduates stay on in those countries to advance their studies and work, while a significant number returns home to take up employment opportunities in the public and private sectors. Those that return home come with life experiences that are different from those they gained in their home countries, and are often conflicted by western lifestyles. They experience dilemmas between their newly-acquired western tastes and their traditional lifestyles back at home (Palfreyman, and Al-Bataineh, 2018). Notably, young highly-educated Saudis, especially women, like their counterparts in neighbouring countries, are increasingly questioning social, political, economic, and religious traditions that have been practiced by their societies for eons and persist to the present day and are now yearning for more dignity and freedom from their government (Grahem, 2016; James-Hawkins, Qutteina, and Yount, 2017; Kumar, Seay, and Karabenick, 2015). The Saudi government has become cognizant of the possible westernization of the country’s youth and therefore, strives to accommodate the youngsters in its national policies and plans. However, the government also insists that the youth should uphold their Arabic and Islamic traditions while actualizing their ambitions, considering that these traditions are held in high regard in the country and give it its unique national character. This study presents a unique insight in which the Saudi youths, some of whom are women, still feel that the country and monarchy should uphold and protect the unique culture of the country from external influence by regulating the use of social media. Yet, they also want the government to expand their civic freedoms, including the use of social media platforms. Although this demonstration of nationalism is not unique in the world, its unique demonstration in the Saudi society is notable, considering that the Saudi government sometimes engages in activities that violate basic human rights by any standards, while claiming that it has the best interested of the Saudi society, even when conducting the atrocities.
Therefore, the leadership in these monarchies have devised elaborate plans to balance the possible threatening effects of the permeation of social media in their countries and modernizing their societies to dispel any despotic, rebellious, and revolutionary tendencies within their populations. Notably, Saudi Arabia, and other Arabic monarchies, such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have formulated, launched, and activated Vision 2030s to demonstrate their commitment for empowering women, especially, socially, and most importantly, economically. These visions have been motivated by the shrinking oil revenues and overreliance on the oil-driven economy, and seek to diversify the economies of their countries to allow more participation of their citizenry, and especially women, to the economic development of their nations (Cook, 2017; Sumpf, Araji, and Crompton, 2016; Zeineddine, 2017). A major and critical aspect in these visions is technological development as these countries strive to transform from oil-driven economies to service-driven and knowledge-driven ones. The Saudi Vision 2030 has a heavy technological component because the Saudi government acknowledges the pertinence of technology in enhancing efficiencies in existing businesses and economic activities, creating new economic opportunities in the service sector that accommodates and engages all shades of the Saudi citizenry, and in improving the provision of government services to the Saudis through e-government (Alshuaibi, 2017). This reasoning is shared by other neighbouring countries that have similar visions. Therefore, this study confirms many insights that have been advanced by other studies and expands the knowledge base on the influence of information technologies on the societies in Arabic and Islamic countries, which is minimal compared to that from western settings.
However, this study has also demonstrated the uniqueness of the Saudi society and the transformation it is experiencing, courtesy of technological advancements, and particularly social media, further complementing existing evidence and knowledge. Saudi Arabia is unique is several aspects, which makes this study relevant in its contribution to research. For instance, although the countries in the GCC are Islamic, Saudi Arabia practices a unique form called wahhabism, thus distinguishing the country from the rests of the Islamic countries. This version of the Islamic faith and tradition is a state-sponsored version of Sunni Islam and is characterized by strict adherence to the teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah, which are premised on conservatism, puritanical, and fundamentalist perspectives of Islam (Freer, 2019). This explains why the Saudi government insists that its citizenry should practice the conservative form of Islam, despite interacting with and being educated in western countries, most of which practice Christianity and advocate liberal lifestyles. It also explains why the Saudi government is conflicted when restricting the use of social media and clamping down on real and perceived dissidents, while at the same time advocating for increased adoption of digital technologies to enhance the economic and social wellbeing of its citizens. This study contributed to this existing knowledge by evidencing that some Saudis, both activists and government officials, felt that the Saudi government should regulate the use of social media in the country to preserve the uniqueness of the Saudi culture and traditions and that any modernization efforts delivered through social media-mediated strategies should be customized to resonate with the religious and cultural identity of the country. Moreover, the study also evidenced that some Saudis felt that the government’s effort to promote and participate in public discourses over social media as a way of improving the wellbeing of its nationals was a propagandist ploy to legitimize the monarchy to western powers and populace. From this study, evidence that some nations strive to modernize their societies while maintaining the traditional character of their national identity was provided from the perspectives of the participants. This underpins the dilemmas that accompany the adoption of new technologies, such as social media, among conservative societies that are under authoritarian rule.
Nonetheless, the findings of this study have been explained using the various theories identified in the theoretical framework, and the applications of these theories in this study can be construed to have advanced the contribution to theory by this research. The perceptions of the women empowerment activists and government officials related to the use of social media in promoting the women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia. This study was essentially empirical because it sought to gather evidence that indicated that social media had a role or no role in the promotion of women’s rights movement in Saudi Arabia. The study sought to explain how activists and government officials, who represent the civil society and the government in Saudi Arabia, respectively, engage with and over social media platforms. Therefore, although the study was not formulated or designed to test existing theories or generate new ones, but rather to unearth the insights of participants that live the social media experience in women’s rights discourses, its empirical findings have theoretical implications. This is because they provide enriched insights that help elucidate how theories can be used to explain social media as a social phenomenon in new or unique settings and hopefully, enable their use in predicting how the phenomenon unfolds in setting that have been understudied or are still evolving. From this premise, the perceptions of the activist and government officials captured in this study have been explained using the communications theory of power, the actor-network theory, and the technological determinism theory, alongside weak tie theory, the theory of ritual, and the social exchange theory. In this study, these theories were used to explain the social media phenomenon in a unique and evolving setting that has not received abundant research attention, yet the knowledge about such a setting would facilitate the prediction of the direction that women empowerment and rights efforts are taking.
9.2.1 Communications Theory of Power
This study demonstrated that the empirical evidence gathered from the study participants (activists and government officials) in form of their perspectives can be explained using the communications theory of power and facilitates its reinterpretation to fit settings similar to the Saudi Arabian one. This theory is premised on the convergence of the concepts and theories of communication with those of power to explain the power dynamics in a networked society (Castells, 2013). The study revealed that the Saudi society was transforming steadily into a networked one because the Saudi government and civic society were increasingly using social media platforms as tools and forums of engagement. In this regard, the Saudi society was progressing in a manner evidenced by other modernised societies across the world. However, this study has revealed that the modernising and globalizing effect of new media is not as straightforward or embraced unquestionably in the Saudi society, which is highly collectivistic and paternalistic, as in the western societies, which are liberal, individualistic, and materialistic. However, the perspectives gathered from the study evidenced that the Saudis, and especially young women, were increasingly pursuing collectivistic and individualistic ambitions and were yearning for some liberal spaces provided they did not contradict Islamic tenets. In the same vein, a significant support of the network theories is the mediating effect of social media in closing the power distance between governments and its officials in authoritative regimes while balancing societal control with civic autonomy in hierarchical societies, like that in Saudi Arabia (Fortunati (2014). To this end, the study revealed that although the Saudi civic society had gained some communicative power, the Saudi government has not lost its own. However, the Saudi regime was willing to share that power with the citizenry by promoting user content on social media, provided is was beneficial to the nation and population’s wellbeing and not used to foment discord against the monarchy. Moreover, the concept of mass self-communication embedded in the communications theory of power is well-evidenced in the Saudi Arabia context by this study. Specifically, the sentiments of the study participants revealed that the Saudi government and activists used social media to reach audiences within the country and beyond its border to explain the ideological positions held, gather global support, and sometimes vent out frustrations.
9.2.2 Actor-Network Theory
The actor-network theory is one of the network theories that help explain the social media phenomenon and its influence on modern societies. According to the theory, members of a society have diverse interests, which they strive to align to build and maintain networks (Heeks and Stanforth, 2015). In this case, the adept use of social media by authoritarian regimes, such as Saudi Arabia, to maintain a network with its citizenry has been investigated and reported by Curran, Fenton and Freedman (2016), Kuppuswamy and Rekha (2015), and Walker (2016). Specifically, Walker (2016) revealed that authoritarian regimes had become adept at using new media technologies to broadcast the existence of a semblance of democratic reforms while in actual sense these technologies were used to direct narratives and discussion, and clamp down on dissenting views through social surveillance while engaging in virtual social networks. Similarly, Kuppuswamy and Rekha (2015) revealed that the Saudi government has realised the need for more political, social and economic reforms after witnessing the Arab Spring uprisings and was using a variety of social media platforms communicate about and promote its agenda for social change while responding to the concerns of the citizenry. In the same vein, Curran, Fenton and Freedman (2016) explained that oppressive governments take profusely to social media because they expected to leverage the short lifecycles of online narratives, which can be used to divert attention from critical and potentially politically-destabilizing discourses about the deeply-seated political and social issues.
However, this study evidenced that virtual networks are often viewed suspiciously in societies that are protective of their cultural and religious norms because they are largely developed and controlled by external players, particularly from the west. In this regard, the source of new technologies influences its acceptability, utilization, and effectiveness in propelling societal change and globalizing beliefs and norms in disparate cultural and political settings. This is aptly captured in the concept of autopoiesis in the explanation provided by Kaczorowska-Spychalska (2018), who acknowledged the self-propelling capability of new technology in society once it is accepted by members and embedded in the social networks therein. It has also demonstrated that the modernisation of the Saudi society has created a context in which the technological determinism theory and the communications theory of power have converged to explain the influence of social media in facilitating social change.
Even then, new media technologies invoke suspicions about the intentions of governments despite the openness and camouflage they provide to private citizens, which therefore stifles the entrenchment and depth of global networks in restrictive societal settings. This context has been aptly described by Kohut (2015), who noted that the increasing pervasiveness of surveillance that was enabled by government-run digital and network technologies in projects undertaken by BND, CNCTR, GCHQ, CSIS, and NSA in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States respectively. These projects had raised public concerns and increased mistrust of governments among citizens. Therefore, it is not surprising that activists, mainly, felt that the Saudi government was not entirely honest in its use of social media, and was seeking to endear the citizenry and global community about its commicment to women empowerment and social change, while covertly cooperating with western countries to surveil the society to identify and eliminate dissenters, terrorists, and insurgents that would threaten the survival of the Saudi monarchy.
9.2.3 Technological Determinism Theory
The technological determinism theory has been used in this study to explain the linkage between technology, specifically social media, and the nature and evolution of the Saudi society, which influences their thoughts and actions in the matters relating to women empowerment and rights. Hirst (2012) explained extensively how the theory has been used to conceptualise the societal changes promoted by technology, media, and technological advancements, which was relevant in contextualising the social media-mediated social changes taking place in Saudi Arabia. This study evidenced the social change that is occurring is Saudi Arabia through the sentiments of women’s empowerment and rights activists and government officials, which demonstrated that digital activism and social movements were taking root among the advocates of women’s empowerment and rights. Previous works by Castell (2013), Gerbaudo (2017), and Gerbaudo and Treré (2015) have demonstrated the transformative nature of digital communication technology, which has facilitated the use of the technological determinism theory in this study. In this regard, this study has contributed to theory by providing insights into how this theory can be used to explain the transformations in the Saudi society that has been mediated by social media.
9.2.4 Strength of Weak Ties
This study proposed that the weak ties formed by Saudi women that were strangers to each other or between Saudi women and unfamiliar foreign women, was responsible for unfettered sharing of opinions, feelings, frustrations, and perspectives related to the challenges that the Saudi women were experiencing in their country. The theory proposed that the weak ties between unfamiliar people enable them to share information and ideas when in stressful situations (De Meo et al., 2014). In turn, women that were familiar to each other and therefore, have strong ties, were less likely to share sensitive information and ideas. However, this study demonstrated that not all Saudi women shared information, feelings, and ideas freely with strangers or acquaintances due to the deeply-ingrained cultural orientation on the strong sense of community and the high level of trust elicited in closely-knit societies.
9.2.5 Ritual Theories
The transformative role of social media, as explained by the theory of ritual, was expected to explain the extent of change in public perceptions of empowerment issues among Saudi women. It was expected that repeated exposure to information, imagery, and discourses about the plight of Saudi women would garner sufficient momentum to induce a well-supported transformative agenda in Saudi Arabia.
However, the study revealed that while many Saudis were familiar with the idealized version of a liberal modern woman, not all of them felt that the Saudi women should adopt these characteristics because they thought that it would erode their cultural, social, and religious identity, which they held dearly. Notably, while some Saudi women advocated for more political and social rights and liberties, they did not discard the hijab, denounce Islam, or abandon their male-dominated families. The paradox presented by the doubtful veracity of this theory in the Saudi cultural and religious setting calls for a reconsideration of its tenets. This means that while social media had the potential of being a transformative agent, its efficaciousness was limited by the depth of entrenchment of cultural and religious beliefs or the dissonance in the idealized version presented by the principal against that of the agent.
9.2.6 Social Exchange Theory
In using social exchange theory in this study, it was expected that social media afforded more benefits than risks, and therefore, was expected to promote interaction and information exchanges between diverse parties (Emerson, 1976). However, this study revealed that the exchange of information was less than flawless and unfettered. Some women in Saudi Arabia were unable to invest in the cost of participation in online discussions because they had limited knowledge in social media use. Moreover, the threat of the ramifications of expressing unpopular or unconventional thoughts in the Saudi standard presented a higher cost that airing one opinion online (Frick, 2016). For this reason, many Saudi women chose to be passive participants in online engagements without expressing their agreement or disagreement with the ongoing online discussions, particularly those on topics that are sensitive and controversial politically and religiously.
9.2.6 Summary of Knowledge Contributions of the Study
Altogether, these six theories that have been explained in the conceptual framework and used to contextualise the nuance emerging from the sentiments of activist and government official participants have been used to explain the diverse and evolving societal, cultural, religious, and social structures, which underpin the dynamism of a developing and modernising society, such as that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the findings of this study can be used to direct future research towards other authoritarian, collectivistic, paternalistic, and developing societies that are non-western to explain how digital technologies, and particularly social media is influencing the traditional power relations between political authorities and the civil society, and between men and women. This would provide added avenues for contributing to knowledge and applying these theories to explain the social media phenomenon in understudied contexts.
9.3 Limitation of the Research
This study aims to explore the dynamic of social media usage in Saudi Arabia, in which the case study focuses on empowering women socially and politically, the current reality of the way women empowerment programs are proposed by the government, how the officials participation in related discourse are mirroring the type reform or the kind of political engagement, and the current sphere for social media in Saudi Arabia. However, we must take into consideration that the findings of the research are limited by the constraints faced by the researcher. The research sample was limited to 31 participants from two groups. The first group contained 17 participants who are active in the discourse related to women empowerment on social media, while the second group was formed of 11 official participants. Both of these groups were selected carefully in accordance with their location, gender, diversity in the level of official representation, and diversity in the level of their engagement with the women empowerment discourse in social media platforms as is mentioned in the chapter about methodology. Also, I benefited, to a lighter extent, from the Narrative Analysis to acquire a rather deep understanding about the manner in which stories are being shared that ultimately aids the type of interaction with developing events related to the discourse. The huge amount of data collected from the interviews has notably affected my ability to apply a further usage of Narrative Analysis approach in the women empowerment discourse on Twitter.
In addition, a further limitation faced by the research was the current change in the Saudi society to move into a society that deeply considers providing reforms for women. This is evidently a new subject about which many perceptions are yet be developed fully about the current reality that aims to transform from a totally gender-segregated society to a state where many of these conservative practices are abandoned. This occurrence caused the research to encounter a limitation in interviewing participants, especially the official group, where a number of interviewees seemed to struggle a bit to separate their views from the stance of the government on the issue. As a result, an important piece to understand the phenomenon seems missing which are the critical views about the new reality, such that its ways of implementation could be faced with misuse and misunderstanding. Consequently, since the motivations of each participating group differ, in particular the official group, considering the newness of the situation as well as the mind-set they have developed because of their involvement with the government process of reform, which is to this date understandably not fully matured. It is understandable for them to lack a clear judgment about the government’s women empowerment programs. Thus, conducting the same research with the exact official sample in the future could result in different findings about their views for the official usage of social media and the aspect in which the government proposed the women empowerment programs, and how they followed the process of its execution on the grounds.
9.4 Recommendations for Future Research
In a society such as Saudi Arabia, that is subject to an authoritarian regime (since its establishment) which controls many aspects of governing practices, the political background must be considered whenever conducting such research. Moreover, a comprehensive understanding of the deeply entrenched conservative nature of the Gulf countries is necessary for any researcher who seeks to study the women’s situation from cultural and religious perspectives, which are also inextricably attached to society.
The findings of this research express greatly the level of impact of social media on the lives of Saudis. It is clear that the malfunctions of traditional public platforms in the past have significantly influenced the manner in which number of issues have been presented and discussed among many circles. This nonappearance of being dynamic in the way public interact with events have also impacted the way the government operates and the officials’ ability to determine the public needs, therefore, leading to failure in responding to demands or enforcing change on the ground. The sense of detachment from society is clearly appearing in the reality of having a group of elites, who control the public opinion and set up the agenda. Hence, women have found themselves confined by a regime that largely intervenes with their needs, decides on her behalf, and a society that holds a rather conservative position in terms of allowing women the same margin of freedom as men to present their perception about many issues, as indicated in this study. The studies about women’s issues in the Middle East are numerous as the literature review of this study clearly presented, however, the understanding of the social situation and the dimension of some practices are limited, especially in the Saudi context. Consequently, since there are many developments in the subject of women and their social statues in the past year and half, as many regulations have been introduced which are related to equality with men. It is appropriate to conduct future research that aims to study such change in terms of its influence on the cultural scene, the way society has embraced such change and the attitude of Saudi woman since their transformation into an utterly different social status.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia is witnessing a situation that has never been experienced in the lasting memory of many of its citizens, as the Saudi government is trying to reshape many of the social practices by guiding its people towards a more open-minded state in terms of encountering other cultural ideas and building bridges with diverse Western societies. The aim for such relationships could aid a change in the stereotype notions many individuals around the world have about the country. Therefore, such reality is occurring under rapid effort from officials on social media to interact with presented content from users, and they must constantly measure their views about both social and political situation in the country. Conducting future research, particularly about the current Saudi government and their apparent willingness to engage in a democratic practices via social media that is based on having a systematic way of interacting with the requirements of its citizens, could significantly enhance the existing knowledge about the political practices in this part of the world, which rapidly tried to minimise their citizens’ engagement in any sort of political practices through the years.
Lastly, studying the aspect of social media platforms’ adoption in the time of crisis by both the official establishment and individuals will pointedly clarify the type of relationship between Saudis and social media. In the current situation for the writing of this research, the Saudi authorities are engaging in a large-scale operation which aims to provide live updates to the public about the latest occurrence about the COVID-19, as the government recruits almost all government entities accounts on social media to deliver information about the virus and the level of its spread, as well as it is constantly trying to minimise the level of misinformation that usually grows in such environment. Conducting a research which aims to deeply observe the way society interacts with one particular event, which equally attract the attention of both official and regular user, and where the study could focus on how social media platforms are being deployed to send messages, used to reassure friends/relatives, and the level of people attachment to these platforms during such events. A similar study could enrich the knowledge-interested for researchers in this field.
9.5 Concluding Remarks
This research aimed to analyse the phenomenon of the huge usage of social media in Saudi Arabia in an effort to understand the attitude of the official establishment towards the women subject in the country and the discourse adopted by activist users on social media in their manner of presenting demands and their constant effort to seek change. Thus, what are the aspects of change in the lives of Saudis, how they react to the newly-presented women empowerment programs, how this process of reform is influencing the situation on the ground, and the government manner of handling the women situation. On the other hand, Saudi women on social media have engaged in a varied and constant discourse to seek reformation in their situation as well as to put pressure on the government to present women with greater margin of freedom to acquire the appropriate status in the society along with political representation. Furthermore, this research has examined deeply the new appearance that was created after the emergence of the discourse related to women, which has seen a high level of inter-gender understanding that aims to conduct civil discussions and spread awareness about issues that are related to women’s daily lives through writing their experience and sharing it in the form of stories. Such endeavours could greatly influence the consciousness of many users and alter their attitude towards the issue.
Even though there is almost total agreement in the findings of this study in the responses of both sets of group, whether the official or the activists of the social media, about the women situation in Saudi Arabia before the emergence of social media, the changes occurring in the region in recent times and the radical change presented by the government with regard to the modern way of ruling for the Kingdom in the upcoming years; the situation endured by women in general, according to many, it was highly difficult, while the immediate change cannot be prevented on all aspects of lives. Yet, there are concerns about the government attitude towards some of the activists in this discourse and about the way in which the authorities have prosecuted a number of activists in light of their participation in this discourse or, at times, by guiding its content. In one way or another, there are also questions about the seriousness of the government in terms of follow-up to enforce some of the newly-presented regulations concerning women empowerment and supporting women in diverse aspects of life. On the other hand, the official respondents’ concerns in this research are demonstrated in the fact that such platforms are not distinguishing between any kind of content, ultimately leading for such space to be employed by individuals who aim to distort the image of the country in front of the world.
To conclude, this research examined, rather deeply, the social media’s ability to challenge and change the social/political reality of the country. Through exploring the ability of the women’s situation and its related discourse on social media aimed to redefine the pattern of the relationship between the official establishment and its citizens and challenge the social tradition which for years has been reluctant in changing its attitude towards the roles of gender-segregation in Saudi Arabia. Thus, reflecting on level of understanding the basic needs to develop a healthy relationship between the two sides. The huge turnout on social media among Saudis have resulted in change in the dynamic of their relationship with government and encouraged many individuals to present their demands in the society in a clear manner that would enhance change of behaviour to what the Saudi regime have adopted since the establishment. Moreover, social media has provided many users with space to challenge many cultural traditions in the country by opening windows to communicate with different people from around the globe, thus representing their society in a different image to what many believed.
In the case of conservative countries that have witnessed clear segregation between men and women, this state is reflected in the type of discussion that arises within such societies, as the long history of segregation notably affects the kind of knowledge existing among users about each gender. The emergence of social media has significantly narrowed the gap between the two genders; having shared platforms has especially allowed women to minimise the impact of this equation, which previously prevented them from engaging with men. Women today in such societies have become capable of leading such debates, and they present ideas that could significantly change the current way of thinking.
Interestingly, the findings show that Twitter facilitated inter-gender understanding allowed Saudi men and women to discuss pertinent issues without flouting the cultural and religious norms of the physical separation of gender among strangers. The open virtual platform facilitated inter-gender understanding by enabling men and women to explore and deliberate their beliefs, concerns, and apprehensions regarding various social and political issues in the country. As highlighted by an activist interviewee,technology played a vital role in establishing and developing the women discourse through providing an open space for debate and discussion that was never allowed before between males and female. Evidently, on Twitter, many longstanding traditions on gender roles were challenged in a benign environment. It demonstrated how Twitter was used by both men and women in conversations about women driving in Saudi Arabia. Although the issue has more supporters than opponents, women were more opinionated regardless of whether they agreed or disagreed with the policy change. Facilitating inter-gender understanding has supported the feminist discourse to address the challenges Saudi women face, which helped building up solidarity to the conversation on social media platforms.
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Appendix
Interview consent:
This interview is for research purposes, and its aim to understand the current dynamic in social media discourses among Saudis, particularly in Twitter. The case about Saudi women rights and the government recent empowerment programs is the main focus for the researcher.
Over the past year and half you have participated and contributed to the discourse in social media and especially Twitter on regular basis. I am conducting this interview to shed further light to the discourse and your contribution to it. All references of you or your contributions in the research will be attributed to anonymous individuals, and will avoid anything that might lead to an indication to you or your online persona. Also you could choose to withdraw from the participation during the course of the interview or at any latter stage before the publication of the research.
For research purposes, I am asking for your consent to use your contributions in social media, and to conduct this interview.
Name of the participant:
Date:
Signature:
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