Impact of Social Media as Political Activism Tool During the June 2024 Youths’ Protests in Kenya

Abstract

Social media has emerged as a key instrument for political participation in recent years, enabling younger generations to actively interact and impact political processes, leadership, and governmental policy. The Kenyan Gen Z protests in June 2024 against the 2024/2025 Finance Bill exemplified the importance of social media as a tool for political activity. During this protests, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok were utilized to organize protests and promote involvement during the demonstrations. The study’s objective is to examine the impact of Facebook, X and TikTok as a political activism tool during the protests. The agenda setting theory, was used to shed light on how social media spread messages and shaped narratives to inspire young people to activism. The theory of social information processing was also applied to shed light on how Gen Z interacted, comprehended, and shared knowledge throughout the protests. The study used qualitative research design and inductive thematic analysis methods to analyse data. The findings indicated that social media was the foundation of young people's political engagement rather than just a tool for protest. The platforms gave common people, particularly Gen Z, a visible voice in governance by promoting courage, togetherness, and solidarity at the society level, the platforms played a significant role as political mobilizing and information dissemination tools. The findings also indicate that there were political, social and policy changes as a result of the platforms’ pressure on the political class. The study recommends further research on the long-term political effects of digital activism, to ascertain its influence on election behaviour, political confidence, and governance reforms and whether Kenya's experience is unique or a component of a broader continental and international trend.