Written by Avis and Aleksandrs Gross.
Image credit: IMG_2872 by rafm0913/ Flickr, license: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Social movements have long been a driving force in the development of Taiwan’s democracy. If it was first the Tangwai and Wildy Lily movements that played a crucial role in establishing the just emerging Taiwanese democracy 30 or more years ago, then it is the Sunflower Movement and now the Recalls that serve to protect and deepen Taiwan’s democracy today. In Taiwan’s case, democracy has come about not just through institutionalised civic education, but, perhaps more importantly, through practice. Through continually participating in social movements today, the Taiwanese keep developing and transmitting democracy. Most recently, with recall-related activity lasting for almost a year, the Recall Movement has left a particularly deep mark on Taiwanese civic society.
When social movements develop a decentralised mode of operation, they are particularly valuable in the process of democracy-building. The Recall Movement was remarkably decentralised, with over 30 different recall groups, countless recall-friendly businesses, and many civil society organisations all working island-wide to support the recalls. Although the Recall Movement was associated with certain individuals – such as influencers (Pa Chiung and Chen Poyuan, for instance) and politicians (of the DPP) who openly supported it – the day-to-day operations of the movement were decided by the countless activist groups that promoted the recalls locally. Their decentralised nature attests to the recalls being a fully spontaneous, civil society effort.
Ebbs And Flows Of Activist Energy
The Great Recall Movement provides a great case study of how decentralised social movements develop. The catalyst that led to the recalls was a series of parliamentary reforms in May 2024 that were widely perceived to undermine the government’s separation of powers, which were followed by violent clashes between ruling and opposition public officials in the Legislative Yuan. The democratic shock this gave rise to mobilised up to 100,000 Taiwanese to gather on Qingdao East Road to protest the KMT-TPP coalition’s actions. To spread movement-related information online while avoiding flagging by social media algorithms, these Taiwanese named themselves Blue Birds; their actions quickly gained momentum and turned into nationwide recalls.
The consequent sense of crisis over Taiwan’s democracy did not disappear after the protests but was rekindled again in early 2025 when the KMT-TPP coalition passed other laws that, although different in kind, were, in the eyes of Blue Birds, similar in their effect on Taiwan’s democracy. Not just the content of the laws, but the blatantly undemocratic way in which they were forced through also sparked much public outrage. Given that protests had proven to be ineffective in reining in the KMT-TPP coalition, the Blue Birds pursued their last remaining option – recall. The Blue Birds received much support in their decision to launch the recalls; a significant number of people came out to volunteer for the recall movement and sign petitions.
The recall procedure tested the organisational capabilities of Blue Birds. In the first stage (lasting up until early February 2025), Blue Birds had to collect signatures from 1% of the local eligible voting public. Given the low threshold of the first stage, recall groups during this stage hadn’t yet developed a streamlined working procedure; activism was more ad-hoc, everyone did a bit of everything, with there being little specialisation. Groups weren’t very fixed structures at this stage either.
In the second stage, up until the 24th of June, the Blue Birds needed to collect signatures from 10% of the local eligible voting public. To tackle the tenfold increase in work, larger groups with specialised sub-teams became indispensable. Blue Birds had to learn task delegation and how to coordinate effectively among different groups. Given that the number of volunteers during this period increased significantly, there was also the additional task of training new members and integrating them within the recall group structure.
Finally, in the last stage, up until late July and August 2025, the Blue Birds had to reach as many voters as possible. Recall groups had to transform their operations to be fully outreach-focused. Erecting a stand in a set location at set times was no longer enough – activists had to seek out voters that had not been reached. Hence, many activists would go from house to house to engage with voters at their doorstep.
Social Movements As Classrooms Of Democracy
The Taiwanese who participated in the Great Recall acquired skills that enabled them not only to be expressive but also effective in safeguarding Taiwanese democracy. For example, many recall groups organised training for new activists during which they were taught about the different steps of the recall procedure. Depending on one’s role in a recall group, one learnt how to run a petition station, how to help supporters fill in forms, and how to consequently process filled-in forms. One would also learn practical skills, such as how to respond if opponents of the movement take violent or nonviolent action against activists. Through the alteration of such training and practice, the street turned into a classroom of democracy in continuous session.
Additionally, the existing expertise of new activists was fully integrated by being given tasks which aligned with their skills. Engineers helped build websites to streamline petition processes, cultural workers translated the recall demands into language that resonates with the public, designers created visuals that gave the movement a recognisable face, legal professionals explained the impacts of legislation in plain terms, and volunteers on the streets distributed blank petition forms directly into citizens’ hands.
Along with expertise, the availability of each activist was accommodated. Those who worked during the day would assist the movement in ways that did not require their physical presence, for example, by generating online content. Whereas those who had time during the day would go out to engage with passersby on the street, setting up petition stations in busy areas or walking from house to house to raise awareness.
Not just the time availability, but also the location of each activist would be accommodated. Because most regions had their own individual recall group, finding an entry-point to support the recalls depended on where one lived. One could also join recall groups outside of one’s district or support more than one, but there was always a simpler first step.
A Social Media Platform For Activism
Threads played a key supportive role in the Great Recalls by providing a social media platform which, by design, embraced a decentralised and action or event-led operation style. Compared with other social media platforms, Threads more closely resembles an online public hall, allowing information to drift freely rather than relying on a single account or page as the sole channel of promotion. Another reason why Threads in particular, rather than any other social media platform, could be repurposed to support the Recall Movement was because of its popularity in Taiwan – Taiwanese being the second largest users of the app worldwide.
Hence, Threads was used to raise awareness of the progress of the recall, attract more support to specific recall initiatives and also provide emotional support to activists. For example, in the later stages of the second phase of the recalls, participants of many offline activities encouraged on-site volunteers and visiting citizens to share and repost the event on Threads, which then attracted a much wider audience simply by using keywords such as ‘Blue Bird’ and ‘mass recall’. By using information drift and keywords, the natural algorithm of Threads supported the decentralised nature of the recalls. Indeed, even after the recalls, Threads continues to play a unique role in shaping Taiwanese public sentiment towards political issues.
Conclusion: Every Person Is A Participant
The Great Recall provides a unique example of how a movement can function effectively without any singular top-down organisation by prioritising general activist training, a skill-oriented approach to distributing tasks, and the use of social media to communicate the developments of the movement.
The Great Recall movement showed to many Taiwanese how, when it comes to activism, what they do, where they do it, and at what time they do it, can be a function of their work schedule, address, experience and expertise. One’s unique background can play a meaningful part in democratic self-defence.
The recall Movement was driven by the passion the Taiwanese people have for Taiwan. It is this passion that moves people to action when they perceive a threat. Although the outcome of the mass recalls did not meet expectations, the fact that the movement not only awakened but also empowered more Taiwanese is perhaps the more important achievement of the recalls.
In many ways, life itself is political, and democracy is a lived belief created and maintained by choices and actions in everyday life. Each act of participation or neglect can either help safeguard freedom or undermine it. The experiences of the past year remind us that we, as citizens, must continually reflect on the role we play in building the society and nation we want to live in: how does our unique background – where we live, what we do, and the amount of time we have – enable us to build it?
Avis is a spokesperson and activist coordinator of a Taichung recall group, and frequently appears on local Taiwanese media, where she discusses the development of the Great Recall. Because of her passion for Taiwan and her belief that politics is a part of life, Avis frequently takes to the streets to stand up for Taiwanese democracy and connect with like-minded activists.
Aleksandrs Gross is a freelance journalist focusing on the grassroots development of Taiwanese identity. He is particularly interested in the development of Taiwanese civic society, especially social movements, and how younger generations of Taiwanese respond to the unique political, identity-related and economic challenges of Taiwan. Find more of his writing on New Bloom and his Substack Identity Island.
This article was published as part of a special issue on ‘Review Taiwan 2025: Challenges, Continuities, and Change‘.
Taiwan Insight 