«But Doesn’t the Paint Pollute?»: #UltimaGenerazione and the Frames of Climate Activism on TikTok

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE
Author/s Claudio Riva, Martina Ceccato
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/71
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 108-126 File size 162 KB
DOI 10.3280/SC2026-071006
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This article analyzes the presence of the Italian environmental movement Ultima Generazione on TikTok as an emblematic case of how climate activism is represented, contested, and reinterpreted in the digital sphere. Through a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 50 videos and over 8,000 comments, the study examines discursive polarization, frames of (de)legitimation, and the dynamics through which users actively negotiate the meaning of protest actions. TikTok emerges as both an arena of symbolic conflict, where activist practices are systematically questioned and delegitimized, and a space for alternative visibility and participatory engagement with the climate crisis.

Keywords: environmental movements, TikTok, social media activism, digital narratives, media framing, polarized discourse.

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Claudio Riva, Martina Ceccato, «Ma la vernice non inquina?»: #UltimaGenerazione e i frame dell’attivismo climatico su TikTok in "SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE " 71/2026, pp 108-126, DOI: 10.3280/SC2026-071006