Social Movements for Sangha Institution Protection through Social Media by Academic Monks in Thai Buddhist Universities

Abstract

This research article has the following objectives: 1) to study the problems and activism roles of scholar-monks in protecting the Sangha institution in Thai Buddhist universities, 2) to study the characteristics and patterns of scholar-monks' activism through social media, and 3) to propose appropriate guidelines and good practices for promoting such activism. This research employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, gathering quantitative data from 145 scholar-monks who use social media at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, out of a target population of 220 (a 65.91 percent response rate), and qualitative data from in-depth interviews with nine key informants. The findings show that: 1. Scholar-monks perceive symbolic threats to the Dhamma-Vinaya, such as monastic misconduct and doctrinal distortion, as significantly more severe than material threats, yet their confidence in their own protective role lags markedly behind their awareness of the threat. 2. Their observed activism remains reactive and individual rather than proactive and networked, with the most-practiced strategy being rapid response to news trends framed within right speech (sammāvācā). 3. Scholar-monks strongly agree that institutional mechanisms should be established to support future activism, despite currently acting individually. Building on these findings, the article proposes a new conceptual framework, Sāsana-Protective Digital Activism, which argues that Buddhist ethics function as a Dhamma Filter interposed between institutional mobilizing drivers and every act of the actor, rather than as an external cultural context surrounding activism, with the sevenfold Sappurisa-dhamma operating as the grammar governing the form, content, and timing of communication. The article closes with policy and practical recommendations for the Sangha and Buddhist universities to elevate this activism from individual initiative to institutional support structures.