ABSTRACT
The promise of the Internet for activists has been well documented. At the same time, its shortcomings have been less central to academic discourses. In this chapter, I outline the transition of one of the most important media activist projects, Indymedia, in the context of political economy in the fi rst instance, and then consider its replacement by much championed social media activism. Social media have gained massive plaudits for their transformational roles, especially in the “Arab Spring.” However, their use in protests in liberal states has been less well received by the corporate media and political authorities, leading to serious questions about the dangers of social media for activists. The chapter will compare the corporate media coverage of the protests in the Arab world with those in the liberal Western states, especially the UK, and highlight how not only how social media have become key instruments of surveillance for the state 1 and its repressive aspects but also how their use by different protesters is still mediated by the ever-powerful corporate media.
