In Colombia, Transitional Justice (TJ) institutions were established after years of violent conflict as part of the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government. By analysing the posting behaviour of the government-appointed TJ institutions on Facebook, we show how general TJ aims and opportunities for citizen participation were promoted in 2019. Our analysis reveals that the organisations rarely address topics related to reconciliation and that active online participation and two-way communication are rather scarce. Instead, Facebook is mainly used by the TJ organisations to increase solidarity with victims and disseminate information about their work and the TJ process. Reflecting on existing literature on TJ and social media participation, we identify great potential for expanding TJ goals and community engagement on social media, to use it as a resource for facilitating the TJ processes, creating exchange, and enabling participation.
Author Bio(s)
Dr. Jasmin Haunschild is a research associate at Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC) at Technical University of Darmstadt. She holds a PhD in Computer Science, obtained with a dissertation analyzing Human-Computer Interactions in the safety and security domains. Previously, she has taught and conducted research on Global Governance at the Chair of International Relations at TU Braunschweig and Royal Holloway College, University of London.
Laura Guntrum (she/her) has been a German PhD candidate and part of the research group Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC) at the Department of Computer Science with secondary appointment in the department of history and social science and the Technical University of Darmstadt since 2021. Her research interests include the use of ICT during political crisis, ethical questions concerning so-called field research, and intersectional approaches within peace and conflict studies.
Sofía Cerrillo is currently a master’s student of International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research at the Goethe University of Frankfurt and Technical University of Darmstadt. Her research interests include digital peacebuilding processes, the use of ICT in post-conflict situations, and ethical questions concerning Artificial Intelligence.
Franziska Bujara is currently a master’s student of International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research at Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Darmstadt. Her academic interest concerns peacebuilding processes, especially the peace process in Colombia, feminist theory and gender perspectives in peace and conflict research.
Christian Reuter is Professor at Technical University of Darmstadt. His chair Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC) in the Department of Computer Science combines computer science with peace and security research. On the intersection of the disciplines (A) Cyber Security and Privacy, (B) Peace and Conflict Studies as well as (C) Human-Computer Interaction, he and his team specifically address (1) Peace Informatics and technical Peace Research, (2) Crisis Informatics and Information Warfare as well as (3) Usable Safety, Security and Privacy.
Keywords
Social Media, Transitional Justice, Participation, Post-Conflict, Colombia
Recommended Citation
Haunschild, Jasmin; Guntrum, Laura; Cerrillo, Sofía; Bujara, Franziska; and Reuter, Christian
(2024)
"Towards a Digitally Mediated Transitional Justice Process? An Analysis of Colombian Transitional Justice Organisations’ Posting Behaviour on Facebook,"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 30:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol30/iss2/4
