Fighting for women, life, freedom across borders: a content analysis of Internet activism displayed in TikTok videos and public protests concerning the Iranian protests

Abstract

This study examined internet activism displayed in TikTok videos and the sharing forms of public protest using TikTok videos regarding the 2022 Iranian protests. A content analysis of the 50 most liked videos using the advanced search “Iran protest 2022” identified eight general themes, including educational awareness, public marches/gatherings, cutting hair, miscellaneous, sports demonstrations, hacking Iranian media/ technologies, purposeful modesty law violations, and burning hijabs. The most prevalent theme of the eight was educational awareness, accounting for 50% of the total videos used in the sample. All videos included in the sample supported the protests and the symbolism provided, and no videos were found to be pro-Islamic regime.