Social media - The only voice for oppositional media in Russia?

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to explore how Telegram is used as a tool for social media protests inRussia. The thesis will focus on the relationship between offline and online protests andmainly discuss the application Telegram in this context. It will analyze the positive andnegative attributes, as well as the effects and future of Telegram as a tool for social mediaprotests. It will do this by drawing on theory on political socialization, as well asmediatization, while also looking at various research that has been made on the subject. Theresult shows that Telegram is used as a tool for the Russian people to express their longingand wish for freedom, while it also shows that the Russian state is trying to prevent harm tothe Russian people, while still harming them differently, by censoring and blocking theirsocial media. The conclusion discusses these results and questions whether Telegram canuphold the image as a platform for freedom of speech for the Russian citizens.