Framing Resistance Against Surveillance

Abstract

Applying theoretical concepts of collective action framing and the mediation of protest movements by grassroots political communication scholars, this article takes an in-depth look at the political communication strategies surrounding two major anti-surveillance protest events in the early post-Snowden world: the “Stop Watching Us” event and “The Day We Fight Back” online protest day. A close reading of the two campaigns with a special focus on organizers’ and participants’ choice of frames, narratives, and iconography reveals how privacy activists have tried to exploit the political opportunity structures of the Snowden leaks and receive media attention. Through the use of historical, cultural, and global framing devices, as well as a particular focus on the actions of individual celebrity activists, organizers have sought to mobilize the public against surveillance. As a thorough look at the subsequent media coverage of the campaigns reveals, the framing activities opened discursive spaces in the contemporary debate about the effects and consequences of mass surveillance. Thus, these two case studies offer important insights both into the grassroots political communication tactics of privacy advocates and the representation of anti-surveillance sentiments in the mainstream media.

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