| Abstract: |
The #EndSARS movement of October 2020 emerged as one of
Nigeria's most significant youth-led protests against police
brutality, gaining unprecedented international attention through
social media platforms. This study examined how social media
facilitated the globalization of the #EndSARS movement,
transforming a local Nigerian issue into an international human
rights concern. Using Agenda-Setting Theory as its theoretical
framework, the study explores how social media platforms set the
international agenda on Nigerian police brutality and influenced
global discourse. The study adopted a mixed-methods content
analysis approach to examine 500 units of analysis comprising
tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook posts and international news
articles. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select
content from Twitter, Instagram, Facebookand international news
media outlets published between October 7 and October 27, 2020.
Data were analyzed using thematic coding and descriptive statistics
to identify patterns, themes and platform-specific contributions to
the movement's globalization. Findings revealed that platformspecific
features Twitter's hashtag trending, Instagram's visual
storytelling and Facebook's community mobilization worked
synergistically to amplify the movement beyond Nigeria's borders.
Analysis showed that 68% of international tweets were retweets of
Nigerian activists' content, visual content received 73% higher
engagement on Instagram and 84% of international news articles
were triggered by social media trends. The study concluded that
social media platforms have transformed activism by enabling local
movements to transcend geographical boundaries and secure
international solidarity. The study recommended integrating multiplatform
strategies in digital activism, emphasizing universal
human rights framing and cultivating relationships with
international amplifiers to maximize global reach. |
