Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS)
Volume-2 | Issue-10 | 962-973
Review Article
Assessing Students’ Perceptions towards the Use of Facebook in the Promotion of Human Rights in Morocco
Mustapha Zanzoun
Published : Oct. 30, 2017
Abstract
The paper examines the use of social media among speakers of English
in Morocco and the extent to which it has empowered users in various struggles
against political and social injustices. More importantly, it explores whether these
media have helped students and enhanced their capacity to challenge and speak out
against human rights abuses. In so doing, the thesis addresses some key polemical
issues and questions germane to the topic, mainly the dialectic between
technological and social determinism, the role of social media, mainly Facebook, in
shaping democratic change among students. The thesis uses a combination of
methodological approaches to explore the structural, textual and contextual
dimensions of social media’s implications and impact on the promotion and
protection of students in Morocco. Through analysing students’ writings, the
research draws on rich data derived from in-depth qualitative research design
conducted with Moroccan students. It offers insights into the embeddedness of
social media as a technological medium and also into the interplay between
students’ perceptions, practices and their political participation. Moreover, the
study examines the complex and multi-layered interconnections between Facebook
in particular and the various social, political and cultural processes shaping its
appropriation and its potential, and enhancing democracy. The study concludes that
social media play a significant role in enhancing Moroccan social and collective
action capabilities by favouring different forms of mobilization, and facilitating
linkages between dispersed constituencies and national public spheres with a view
to promoting human rights practices among students in Morocco. The paper
argues, however, that the medium does not affect in any radical way the dominant
political and social orders inasmuch as its implications and potential remain
considerably limited by the various digital divides, and are mediated through the
power relations characterizing society in terms of the degree of literacy and
political involvement.