Abstract:
Digital campaigns have proven to be an increasingly important force in the world, especially in the age
of the Internet and social networks. With the dissemination of information and the global reach provided
by technology, they can mobilize large numbers of people, interactively and immediately. Movements
such as Black Lives Matter have already been nominated for the nobel peace prize in 2021 for their
actions in mobilizing protests around the world against police violence and structural racism, motivated
especially by two murders 2 .
Mobilization is a process built in everyday life together with people who aim at the same goal. One can
characterize the online social networks as the new counter-hegemonic weapons of today, which will
give voice to engaged citizens to continue their struggles. But what will formalize the social movements
in this new era is the visibility achieved by network mobilizations, so it is important that the publications
of a particular group are viewed and shared with network users. The network is viral, that is, it is able
to spread information instantly to hundreds and thousands of connected people, in the case of
mobilizations initiated on the Internet this is a key strategy to ensure their effectiveness (Ugarte, 2008).
They can be used for a wide variety of purposes, such as raising awareness about social and political
issues, raising funds for causes, putting pressure on governments and companies for policy changes, or
creating a community around a specific issue. Moreover, they can have a wider and more diverse reach
than traditional campaigns, allowing people from different cultures, countries, and social classes to
participate and contribute to the cause.
Considering the latest events in Mozambican society, two digital campaigns of social mobilization in
Mozambique were analyzed to serve as a case study and, through them, to understand if their reach was
able to promote and influence changes in public policies. The two campaigns took place in the city of
Maputo, the first one was about the Hidden Debts campaign and the second one about the Revimo Tolls,
the non-governmental organizations mobilized virtually to propose to the Mozambican citizens new
ways to express themselves through tools available in cyberspace, from this movement the research
seeks to understand through a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology, how the digital
campaigns achieve results and what kind of strategies are used to mitigate ideological attacks were
analyzed.
