Framing Under Fire: Navigating Environmental Activism on Social Media Amid Digital Repression
2025-09-24
Grounded in the conceptual frameworks of protest framing and digital repression, this study examines the adaptive messaging strategies employed by Vietnamese environmental activists in response to escalating repression, through physical coercion, across two key periods: before and after mid-2021. Our analysis of the Facebook content of one of Vietnam’s leading environmental groups indicates significant changes in the group’s adoption of protest frames, topical frames, and narrative roles, highlighting how activists balance public engagement with safety under authoritarian constraints. Specifically, after a wave of arrests of high-profile environmental activists, activists shifted their message framing strategies from motivational to diagnostic, focusing more on information provision rather than encouraging public engagement. In addition, after the arrests, activists increasingly shifted their narrative roles, increasing their blame on corporations as villains, while positioning the environment as a primary victim. This study enriches our understanding of digital activism in authoritarian contexts, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for movements under similar constraints.