Researching protest on Facebook

Developing an ethical stance for the study of Northern Irish flag protest pages

Bibliographic Data

ID20508261
AuthorsPaul Reilly (0000-0002-8067-8991), Paul J Reilly (0000-0002-6890-778X, ,, corresponding author), Filippo Trevisan (0000-0003-2463-4596, ,)
Year2016
Volume19
Issue3
Pages419-435
Publication date2016-03-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Communication & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369118x.2015.1104373
OpenAlexW1946875207
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited29

This paper adds to the emergent literature on Internet research ethics by exploring the ethical implications of researching the use of Facebook to organize the union flag protests in Northern Ireland in January 2013. These protests were viewed as a ‘lightning rod’ for loyalist dissatisfaction with the peace process, as well as a manifestation of their increasing alienation from their unionist political representatives. The covert observation of the Loyalist Peaceful Protest Updater (LPPU) page in January 2013 found some evidence to support the suggestion that social media had become a ‘sectarian battleground’ during the flag protests. This created an ethical dilemma in terms of what level of anonymity should be afforded to those who posted such content on the page. While there was no requirement to ‘please’ unaware participants, the researcher was wary of inadvertently contributing to the online shaming of loyalists by groups such as Loyalists Against Democracy. Therefore, it was decided to only use direct quotes from public figures, such as the leaders of the flag protest movement, who would presumably have no expectation that their comments would remain private. The narratives of the ‘rank and file’ protesters were conveyed through the use of direct quotes that could not be traced back to their authors and the paraphrasing of their comments. In light of the limitations of alternative strategies such as fabrication and word clouds, this was the most appropriate way to illustrate the themes from the LPPU without distorting the voices of these users

Alienation · Covert · Criminology · Irish · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Social media · Sociology · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection · Social Media and Politics

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