Online environmental activism and Internet use in the Indonesian environmental movement

Abstract

This article investigates the use of the Internet among Indonesian environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and how this use influences the mobilizing structure of the environmental movement. The discussion is informed by an explorative study of nineteen Indonesian ENGOs working in the domain of forest protection. The study reveals that the Internet empowers the environmental activism of these organizations by enhancing opportunities for political participation. A main finding in the article is that well-established organizations with well-developed international networks benefit the most from the use of the Internet in their activism. However, smaller organizations with more informal charters seemed to have a better capacity to connect unconnected communities to the global flow of information.