Youtube as a geopolitical actor in the mediation of child marriage discourses in Yemen: a case study of Nujood Ali’s Stor

Abstract

This study examines YouTube’s role in mediating televised reporting on child marriage in Yemen by focusing on the case of Nujood Ali, who was forced into marriage at the age of eight and was divorced at ten. Her story drew global attention from social workers, human rights organizations, religious scholars, and politicians. By focusing on this case, this study explores how YouTube, as a global technology platform, shapes the visibility and framing of such stories, to determine the extent to which it influences both local and transnational audiences. In particular, this study explores how digital infrastructures and audience reactions construct meanings around gender, childhood, and justice in Yemen. The analysis identifies dominant themes and sentiment patterns across viewer comments. The results overwhelmingly show critical attitudes toward child marriage. They also reveal complex patterns of emotional engagement, cultural interpretation, and moral positioning in digital content. By situating this case within scholarship on digital platforms and media geopolitics, this study provides a case-based examination of how YouTube mediates visibility, affective circulation, and cross-cultural interpretation in relation to child marriage as an Arab social issue. The findings should be understood as illustrative insights derived from a single platform-mediated media example, rather than as generalizable claims about platform governance.