Digital Feminism in China: How Are Social Media Platforms Contributing to the Activism Trajectory?

Online feminist movements in China are currently witnessing heightened prevalence. With higher levels of speech freedom, social media platforms thus become major arenas for feminists to carry out activism. The restricted media environment in the nation therefore is undergoing transformations regarding what content is exposed to the public. Questioning whether the social media in China are supporting or inhibiting the overall digital feminism trajectory, this article delves into the specific roles adopted by the platforms. Both negative and positive remarks are discussed in order to further investigate impact exerted onto the digital feminist movements. On the one hand, the online movements are suffering from the internalised patriarchal values and norms on platforms, mirroring a top-down tolerance towards misogynistic elements on social media. Meanwhile, surveillance and censorship are further impeding activists from spreading public awareness since feminist contents are perceived as sensitive, if not harmful to the society. However, such setbacks are offset by the masquerading effects brought by the platforms, which allow users to evade top-down censorship via practising less direct discursive rebellions. Furthermore, the community building functions on the platforms also enable activists to trigger bottom-up influences and awareness, thus initiating normalisation of feminist activities online while incorporating into the popular culture. The conclusion further sheds light on the future need to shift focus onto other platforms with different core functions instead of only centring on Weibo. Moreover, future research should also take into account the trend of neoliberalisation of digital feminist activism in recent years.