Digital Citizenship, Territorial Inequality and Protest Visibility: Tamil Nadu's Kudankulam and Thoothukudi Struggles

Abstract A digital presence is crucial for civic recognition since globalisation and digitalisation have altered how regions are portrayed. This article examines two environmental justice movements in the same state in Tamil Nadu, India: the Kudankulam anti-nuclear resistance movement and the Thoothukudi anti-Sterlite resistance movement. The study employs a mixed-methods design, including a quantitative analysis of 400 social media posts (200 from each protest) and qualitative audience interviews. The analysis reveals disparate levels of engagement on digital platforms. The Thoothukudi protest had broad attention through arresting images of police violence disseminated by verified accounts in India. In comparison, the Kudankulam protest was constrained by technical issues given its rural and coastal location. The quantitative analysis reveals that emotion, rather than logic, is an essential factor in engagement. Qualitative analysis shows that the origin of a protest, whether rural or urban, influences how people assess its importance and whether they believe it deserves attention online. By demonstrating how protest movements shape the audience’s perceptions of a place as either marginal “anti-development” spaces or cosmopolitan centres of resistance, the study contributes to the epistemic discussion on digital communication practices and territorial branding. It argues that communicative justice and environmental justice are inextricably linked, emphasising the need for inclusive representational tactics that balance democratic citizenship, fairness, and territorial branding.