Hashtag Activism and the Right to Food in Australia

This chapter applies framing theory to better understand how one particular group of food security advocates in Australia employed Twitter in a campaign designed to have an impact on policy regarding the right to food. It provides insight into how Twitter elements such as hashtags, handles and mentions can serve as issue-framing devices and mediators within food advocacy networks. The chapter demonstrates the strategic value of the tool for facilitating a cross-flow of information between ideologically aligned advocacy organisations, both domestically and internationally. In virtual food communities, political activism coincides with recipe sharing and restaurant reviewing while also facilitating local, place-based mobilisations. The persistence of digital divides, the prevalence of elite voices and the commercialisation of the Internet raise questions about the democratising potential of social media. Frame analysis has been applied to explore how food insecurity is socially constructed in high-income nations such as Canada.