DigiActive.org

Free Bashir Campaign Begins

Moroccan blogger Bashir Hazzam was arrested on December 7th after taking part in a student protest and posting about it on his blog.  The Free Bashir site is up now at www.freebashir.org.  These types of  sites are getting more and more sophisticated.   This one has clear  background information on the case, banners for you blog, a widget, and presences on Twitter, Facebook, on Flickr.   It would be helpful if the site proposed one clear action that people could take to help Bashir.   It’s all about having a credible theory of change: how will the actions people take online affect the offline outcome of the case?

Action Alert: Help Detained Vietnamese Bloggers

Background: The web has become a critical tool for over 20 million Vietnamese internet users to access and share information beyond the censorship of the state-run media.  Since September 2008, the authorities in Vietnam have unleashed a massive campaign against Vietnamese bloggers and cyber activists. In the last 12 months at least 15 bloggers have been arrested and harassed. According to Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group based outside the country, these bloggers  were simply posting their writings critical of the government’s handling of the land sovereignty disputes with China and bauxite mining. For example blogger Sphinx was detained for posting on his blog a picture of himself wearing a T-shirt saying “Paracel and Spratly islands belong to Vietnam. ”

How to Help: People can download the internet freedom poster and publish it on FaceBook, blogs and so on. People who live in America can send a pre-written letter to their Representative and urge him/her to support internet freedom in Vietnam.

Impact: The bloggers do not belong to any association or organization and it will be easy for them to be forgotten. Any international campaign can be helpful to create a virtual shield to protect them or at least keep their presence alive.

Action of “Omission” to Protest Chinese Censorship

What: To protest the implementation of the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering program on all computers sold in China, the blogger Ai Wei Wei is asking Chinese  users to boycott the Internet on July 1st, 2009.

When: July 1st is the date on which Green Dam much come pre-installed (or on an attached disk) for all new Chinese computers.

Where: People’s Republic of China

Why: To protest Green Dam in particular and Chinese censorship in general.

Who: We previously wrote about Ai Weiwei’s largely successful effort to collect the names of the children killed in the Sichuan earthquake last year.  He is also a well-known artist, who helped design the Olympic “Bird’s Nest” stadium in Beijing.

How: Via Twitter, Ai asked people to “Stop any online activities, including working, reading, chatting, blogging, gaming and mailing.  Don’t explain your behavior.”  The interesting aspect of this protest is that Ai is trying to create a political action which does not entail risk to participants.  By asking people not to acknowledge they are taking part in a boycott, Ai hopes to protect them from persecution by Chinese authorities.

It is hard to claim innocence when taking part in a political actions of “commission,” even one that is apparently innocent.  (In Belarus in 2006, for example, young people were arrested for assembling to eat ice cream.)  However, an action of “omission” puts the government in a more complicated position.  After all, not using the Internet isn’t criminal.  It will be interesting to see how many people participate in the action and whether or not the action of omission becomes a new strategy in digital activism.

Hat-tip: Stan Schroeder on Mashable

Image Source: Daily News

Action Alert: Filipino Activists vs. the Cha-Cha bill

Background:  No, the cha-cha is not a dance move. The Philippine House of Representatives is planning to adopt House Resolution No. 1109, a bill that would allow it to convene as a constituent assembly and amend the Constitution (or, change the charter).   The measure is quite unpopular with Philippine citizens.  According to a statement made by a group of business associations, “The question all Filipinos should ask is: For whose interest was this action taken? Certainly not the Filipino people’s, as there is no widespread clamor to amend the Constitution, especially now that we are less than a year away from a presidential election.”  Activists are not only going to the street to protest but groups like the Computer Professionals Union (CPU) are also asking supporters to take action online using Twitter.

What:  Here’s how Twitter users can show their opposition to changing the Filipino constitution, and solidarity with Filipino activists on the ground in Manila:

1. Tweet a message of opposition using the hashtag #no2conass
2. CPU has developed a tool that posts tweets from SMS messages sent to +639071134503.  CPU invites everyone to send SMS messages to this number and they will repost them as tweets.SMS messages should have <no2conass><space><message> format.

When: Wednesday, June 10th

Why: To oppose amendments to the Filipino constitution which are not supported by the Filipino people.

image credit: filipinovoices.com

Action Alert: Citizen-Powered Election Monitoring With Vote Report India

What: Vote Report India is a collaborative citizen-driven election monitoring platform for the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha elections. Users contribute direct SMS, email, Twitter and web reports on violations of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. The platform aggregates these direct reports with news reports, blog posts, photos, videos and tweets related to the elections from all relevant sources, in one place, on an interactive map.

Vote Report India aims to not only increase transparency and accountability in the Indian election process, but also provide the most complete picture of public opinion in India during the month long elections.

Vote Report India is built on the Ushahidi and Swift platforms and managed by eMoksha, a non-profit organization that aims to enable stronger democracies through increased citizen awareness and engagement.

When: The month-long Indian Lok Sabha elections will be held in five phases on April 16, April 22/ 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, and the results will be announced on May 16.

Why: This is an important election for India, in the context of a series of terrorist attacks last year that shook up the country, and a worldwide financial crisis that threatens to derail its strong economic growth.

However, as India’s 714 million voters elect their 543 representatives, we are sure to see the usual controversies that surround general elections in India: the illegal use of government resources for campaigning, incidences of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric in campaign speeches, and allegations of violence, intimidation and other irregularities during the elections.

Vote Report India will provide a platform to report and track these irregularities, and help to increase transparency and accountability in the Indian election process.

How: You can help Vote Report India in three ways.

Step 1: Evangelize It

We would encourage you to spend some time at our website and project wiki to get a sense of what we are doing. If you like what we are doing, please join the Vote Report India community at Twitter (@votereportindia), Facebook, Orkut, SMSGupShup or Google Groups and subscribe to our blog. If you have a blog or a website, please consider writing about Vote Report India and displaying our banners (200X200 and 150X150) on your blog or website.

Step 2: Use It

The next step is to actually use the Vote Report India platform and encourage others to use it.

Incidents can be reported in four ways –

- By sending a message starting with VoteReport to 5676785
- By sending an email to report@votereport.in
- By filling a form on the Vote Report India website.
- By sending a tweet with the hashtag #votereport

Step 3: Volunteer

We can use all the help we can get. Volunteer opportunities are available in many areas, especially for software developers, designers and journalists. Please email us at votereportindia@gmail.com to explore these opportunities.

Cross-posted at Gauravonomics, my blog on social media and social change.

Action Alert: Day of Solidarity with Persecuted Bloggers

Background: Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger, died tragically in prison on March 18, demonstrating the sad fact that a blogger’s life can be lost as easily as a blog can be filtered by authorities.

Bloggers have been praised on many occasions for their contribution and value to the information society. They are admired in many cases as unheard voices but unfortunately most of the time, when a blogger faces persecution, his or her voice is not heard.

Sadly, Omid Reza’s case is not an exception and dozens of cyber dissidents are in jail around our globalized world and many more face political persecution.

When: I would like to propose March 18 every year as an International Day of Solidarity with Persecuted Bloggers.

Why: We can remember, talk and honor in this day jailed, tortured, killed and threatened bloggers, regardless of their political ideas and social or ethnic backgrounds. We can also discuss on this day what measures should be taken to support persecuted bloggers.

How: Please contact me at helpforbloggers@gmail.com if you’d like to get involved.   So far I have received very positive feedback from Committee to Protect Bloggers, Global Voices Advocacy, Freekareem, Mideast Youth and several bloggers and  I am ready to receive your comments, ideas, initiatives and words on this topic.

Action Alert: Campaign to Free Jailed Doctors in Iran

Description: Two sibling physicians, Kamira and Arash Alaie, have pioneered educational and harm reduction campaigns among drug users, prostitutes, and prison inmates in Iran and throughout the Middle East. They have been in jail in Iran for six months, and have had no legal representation. To date, no formal charges have been filed.

Tools: Facebook, blog, e-petition

How These Tools Are Being Used: Clint Trout, a friend of the Alaie siblings, who launched a Facebook campaign on their behalf asks supporters to:

1. Make a sign that says “Treating AIDS Is Not a Crime: Free Kamiar and Arash Alaei and take a photo
2. Sign the petition
3. Get other people to do this action.

The IranFreeDocs site asked people to send an email to Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations.

Outcome: Many ex-prisoners say that the Islamic Republic of Iran is sensitive to international media pressure and the doctors will be treated with greater care if the are seen to have public supporters.

Action Alert: Facebook Campaign to Free Hoder

Update: Hoder’s detention has been confirmed by a family member.

What: a Facebook-based campaign to free the blogger Hossein “Hoder” Derakhshan, who has allegedly been in taken into custody by Iranian authorities on charges of spying for Israel. (There has been no official confirmation of Hoder’s arrest other than an article on the Jahan News site and the fact that he has not updated his blog for 2 weeks.)

When: Now!

Where: On your Facebook profile page

How: There are several ways you can support Hoder. A message from the Facebook group, Free Hossein Derakhshan // Libérez Hossein Derakhshan, asks supporters to do the following:

1. Invite your friend list to join this group
2. Download and Add this picture to your profile picture: http://tinyurl.com/5983v3
3. Tell your friends, family, and colleagues about the situation
4. Write the Canadian Embassy in Iran (address below) notifying them of Hossein’s condition: teran@international.gc.ca.

You can also get news about Hoder on the Twitter channel http://twitter.com/freehoder.

Why: Because Hoder’s alleged arrest is illegal and he deserves his freedom.

Hat-tip: Hamid Tehrani for Global Voices Advocacy

Campaign: Protests against Proposition 8

credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/

Description:
The approval of Proposition 8 outlaws same-sex marriages in the state of California, which only recently passed a law to allow same-sex marriages to be recognized. LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) activists all around the country have been speaking out against this blatant form of hate and discrimination with protests, rallies and boycotts.

Digital Activism Tools:
Facebook

How These Tools are being used:
A group called Join the Impact has been organizing national Days of Actions all over the Country. Prior to the first call to action rally held cities all over America, Facebook groups and events popped up days leading up to the big event on November 15th. Almost immediately after the event on the 15th, I received another Facebook invite to the “Day without a Gay” event also organized by Join the Impact. The event which will take place on December 10th, is a direct action where over 100,000 LGBTQ people and allies will go on strike by calling out of work and not making any financial purchases. The Facebook event explains that “LGBT workers, business owners, consumers and taxpayers contribute over $700 billion to the American economy and we deserve the same rights as all other Americans.”  

Boycotts have been increasingly popular in California since Californians Against Hate started a Dishonor Roll list of people, businesses, organizations and churches that donated large sums of money to Pro-Proposition 8 Campaigns. The Dishonor Roll includes, and boycotts and protests have been staged against, Cinemark Cinemas, A-1 Self Storage, Hoehn Motors, El Coyote and many, many Mormon Churches. 

Outcome:
The LGBTQ movement has been re-energized and they are not going to sit back anymore. The numbers on these Facebook groups show that there is a huge movement going on and lots of support behind it. Join the Impact plans to keep this momentum going by providing actions and ideas for ways to create change. 

Twitter Vote Report monitors the US election via micro-blogging

Description: Discriminating officials, fraudulent voting machines or simply long wait times are some of the problems voters may be facing on November 4th. Twitter Vote Report gives American voters an opportunity to report incidents on Election Day using their mobile phones and share them with others.

Digital Tools Being Used: Mobile phones, Twitter, Google Maps mashup, Plodt, iPhone app.

What Are They Doing: Twitter Vote Report aggregates short messages from people all over the US during the election.

Twitterers can use the hash tag “votereport” to let Twitter Vote Report know about an incident. But reports can also be submitted by sending a SMS to the organizers, using an iPhone / Android app or simply calling them.

Twitter Vote Report will aggregate all messages sent to them and display them on their front page. They also offer a RSS feed for those who want to receive all the messages. But to make more use of the information sent in, Twitter Vote Report offers some additional tags that can be added to a tweet to indicate a specific problem: Read more »