Femocrats Online: Navigating Digital Feminism and GBA+ in the Canadian Public Service

Abstract Public servants' social media use has been subject to considerable debate, which often focuses on the potential conflict between duty of loyalty and free speech. Similarly, digital feminism has presented both opportunities and challenges for feminist activism, facilitating increased awareness and connections, while also inviting harassment, potentially silencing particular groups. In this article, we situate GBA+ at the nexus of these phenomena, suggesting that social media offers a new mode of representing GBA+ in a networked context, implicating shifting meanings and practices that go beyond debates about public service values. We reveal three distinct uses of X: 1) to “make sense” of GBA +; 2) to build connections and relationships; and 3) as a tool to amplify their voices as employees. We highlight how femocrats' use of X represents new terrain for not only challenging and potentially transforming core public sector values but also for forging new opportunities for feminist governance.