Filipino migrant workers navigating war online: Digital performative citizenship and the construction of belonging during the Israel–Hamas war

Research on migrant workers’ use of social media has largely focused on everyday contexts. Little attention has been given to their practices during major crises in their host countries where they lack citizenship. This study examines how Filipino live-in caregivers in Israel used Facebook during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the subsequent war, highlighting the intersections of studies on migrant workers, social media affordances, and performative citizenship. Based on a digital ethnography on Facebook, the findings show that Filipino migrant workers’ posts expressed mourning, celebrated heroism, and emphasized solidarity, both within the Filipino community and toward Israeli society. These narratives reflected two dimensions: strengthening pride and unity within the Filipino community, and forging connections with Israeli society. By celebrating both Filipino and Israeli acts of bravery, migrant workers asserted their place within the broader Israeli discourse, blurring boundaries between citizens and non-citizens. The findings suggest that wartime rupture created opportunities for marginalized migrants to challenge everyday hierarchies and reframe narratives of belonging. We argue that the specific affordances provided by social media—particularly visibility and association—enabled migrant workers to perform “acts of citizenship” in ways that extended beyond rights-claims to include narratives of inclusion, thereby reshaping their sense of belonging in the host society through digital performative citizenship.