CYBERACTIVISM AND RESISTANCE TO DICTATORSHIP IN GUINEA-BISSAU: NOTES FOR AN INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION

Abstract

The internet has played a crucial role in resisting authoritarianism, allowing the coordination of protests, the denunciation of human rights violations, and the construction of solidarity networks, both national and transnational, that connect local and diaspora activists. The resurgence of the internet in Guinea-Bissau, starting in 2013, was a fundamental milestone for the continuity of the struggles of social movements, offering new possibilities for the organization and expansion of political contestation. This article analyzes the strategies of action of social movements in Guinea-Bissau, a context of political repression, with an emphasis on the use of social networks — especially Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok — as tools for mobilization and political articulation. The work is characterized as a documentary research, developed from a case study and based on a qualitative approach. The data was collected on social networks, newspaper reports; In addition, a literature review on the subject was carried out, seeking to understand how digital media enhance resistance and reconfigure the mechanisms of engagement of social movements in the country. It is understood that cyberactivism not only challenges political authoritarianism, but also redefines the paradigms of political participation and the exercise of activism in the context of political persecution.