Some religious prohibitions against social media have backfired as publicity.

Evidence

A Muslim cleric in Indonesia declared selfies haram, saying, “If we take a selfie and upload it on social media, desperately hoping for views, likes, comments or whatever—we’ve fallen into the OSTENTATIOUS trap.” But the fatwa backfired: thousands of reaction selfies promptly posted under the hashtag #selfie4siauw (the name of the cleric). One day, however, another fatwa against a social media company may come along, and people will take it as a battle cry; maybe whole communities will start to feel that particular platforms are no longer for them. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 592

Categorization

• CANDY: A cleric declaring selfies haram, then thousands posting reaction selfies under his hashtag, is a delightfully ironic, tweetable anecdote about performative resistance.
• SHARE: Worth sending to anyone interested in platform boycotts or the politics of hashtags — the #selfie4siauw backlash is a perfect mini-case.
• SEED: Angle: when does moral condemnation of a platform become adoption publicity? The selfie fatwa is a ready-made example of resistance being absorbed into the very attention economy it criticized.
• XREF: connects to: Religious polemic repels the home audience more than the described adversary; Material incentives backfire on sacred values while symbolic recognition softens opposition. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 547

Broader Connections

• Religious polemic repels the home audience more than the described adversary #corroborates (0.80)
• Material incentives backfire on sacred values while symbolic recognition softens opposition. #expands (0.80) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 547