Survey Results

Censorship and Social Media

This survey received 9 responses from 6 countries: Australia, Brazil, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Norway, Taiwan, Republic of China, United States of America

Question 1 asked Have you or your department posted anthropological content on social media, perhaps to spread anthropological ideas to a mainstream audience?

This was a free-response question. Responses said:

  • No (Brazil)
  • Yes, I have a site called Ethniciran on which there is anthropological content (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
  • Yes (Taiwan, Republic of China)
  • Yes, on Instagram (Brazil)
  • Yes, we do post material on LinkedIn, and less so on Twitter and other social media. The content is generally restricted to announcements or links to content situated elsewhere, rather than being primary academic output. (Australia)
  • Yes (Brazil)
  • Yes (Brazil)
  • Yes (United States of America)
  • yes (Norway)

Question 2 asked The United States Congress appears poised to ban TikTok for its citizens. France and Iran have already restricted the app. If TikTok were restricted in your country, would it affect you or your department?

This was a free-response question. Responses said:

  • No (Brazil)
  • I am writing from Iran. (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
  • TikTok is banned on government owned devices (which includes public education). (Taiwan, Republic of China)
  • No (Brazil)
  • Not very much at all, though perhaps some of us use TikTok. Generally, I think the banning of TikTok is based on a double standard. It appears to be no problem that American corporations such as Meta, Twitter, Google and Apple extract users personal data, but it is not ok if the same is done by a Chinese company. On the other hand, some American platforms are also not accessible in China. (Australia)
  • No (Brazil)
  • No (Brazil)
  • No (United States of America)
  • No (Norway)
    Original Text
    no

Question 3 asked In your opinion, how should academic anthropologists best go about publicizing their work over social media, if at all?

This was a free-response question. Responses said:

  • Short videos that show the contributions of anthropological knowledge for a better future (Brazil)
  • Becoming Public is possible, but it has been very difficult .... I have a section in journal I edit Anthropology of the Middle East, where scholars are invited to write about difficulties they have had to get established. (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
  • There is room for multiple approaches. YouTube can have the biggest impact, but it is a lot of work to produce. One also has to be aware of the shifting patterns of social media use in one's country by generation. (Taiwan, Republic of China)
  • Using social media to share details about fieldwork that usually are insivisble in our wroten pieces. (Brazil)
  • Publicising our work on social media extends our reach, but so far there is rarely any content made available directly on these media. Short summaries of important works could be published on such media for the general public. The choice of platform will depend on the topic. (Australia)
  • I do not think that academic anthropologists should discuss their work on social media. (Brazil)
  • I do not think that academic anthropologists should discuss their work on social media. (Brazil)
  • Instagram, I suppose, but this is not ideal (United States of America)
  • At my department they use Instagram and Facebook. Maybe rather 'outdated' and it will reach a certain (not too young) segment of the public. But it seems to work. (Norway)

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