Identifying a movement

One of the ways to identify a movement is to observe the authority responses to criticism. When the authorities clamp down with an iron fist the topic is a candidate for a movement. It does not guarantee a movement. But the alternative seems to indicate a lack of a movement. When the authorities do not clamp down at all on outrageous behavior. Some right wing faith based protesters and their supporters claim their actions as part of a social movement while the authorities accommodate, accommodate, accommodate. They don't have the spark required to make a movement no matter how much they provoke authorities.