Video blogging and youth activism in Malaysia

Abstract

The Internet has engendered a ‘democratizing’ effect, especially in highly censored societies. Young activists are increasingly using online sites, such as YouTube, EngageMedia and MySpace as alternative platforms to raise issues that are of importance to the community, but which are taboo in society (e.g., homosexuality, Orang Asli land rights, and ethnic discrimination, among others). The findings from interviews and focus groups conducted with 80 young adults, and a compilation of video blogging platforms/activities popular amongst Malaysians, clearly demonstrate the significant use of videos in advocating human rights, and social and political justice, as well as in challenging existing regulatory and legislative regimes. This article examines how video-sharing websites are fast becoming popular, albeit contested, spaces for critical documentary and experimental works to inform, educate, and encourage discourse among young adults. It then considers the extent to which such ‘viral videos’ embody and/or confront local/national struggles towards social and political change.

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