DigiActive.org

Tactic: NAACP gets digital to curb police abuse

Description: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. During its centennial convention in New York this week, it was announced that the venerable organization will be moving into the new digital frontier with the use of video and mobile technology. After much complaining from African American bloggers about the organization’s lack of online media use and relevance to engage constituents with its advocacy agenda, it looks like the NAACP is making strides to close its digital gap.

Digital Tools Being Used: Text-Messaging, Video, Email
What Are They Doing: The organization launched its new Rapid Response System though its website last week, which will be “a quick, effective way for citizens to report instances of police misconduct, and to help public safety officials move beyond the “tough on crime” policies that have lost their effectiveness.”

Users can send text messages, emails, or video reports of police abuse to the organization either by mobile phone or a web form that can found its website.

“Nationwide, more than 26,000 citizen complaints of police officer use of force were filed with state and local law enforcement agencies in 2002,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous in a statement. “However, because many incidents are not reported, this number does not capture the full magnitude of the problem…[P]ublic safety is a civil and a human right; and so we want a more accurate count of these incidents.”

In an interview with DigiActive yesterday, Monique Morris, NAACP’s vice president of advocacy and research, noted that with the recent proliferation of digital activism, such as the videos that appeared online following the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by Oakland police officers (Viewer Discretion is Advised) earlier this year, there is a need to create a uniform space where information about police brutality can be collect and action can be taken to deal with the problem.

“There are so many videos on YouTube that show varying levels of injustices, but we want people to send their videos to us, so we can take the necessary legal and advocacy steps to address the problem in an organized fashion,” Morris said. “This idea will help drive our advocacy agenda.”

Analysis/Impact: When contacting the NAACP using the forms, users have the option of saying what type of incident occurred (i.e. sexual harassment, false arrest), what type of law enforcement agency was involved (i.e. state, federal) and what was the believed primary reason behind the incident (i.e. racism, sexism, homophobia). If this is used the way it is being proposed, along with the organization’s long established reputation, it could make an impact in the long term, which can both address injustices still occurring among vulnerable communities, while maintaining its reputation with the next generation of social activists.

Interview: Dr. Awab Alvi organiser of the Long March in Pakistan

See 'n' Report coverage of the Long March: visual monitoring of information updates

The Long March in Pakistan is a case study in digital activism. The campaign utilized the full range of digital tools, from blogs to social networking and citizen journalism, through the use of old and new technologies. Yet the most interesting aspect of this campaign is not in the tools themselves, but in the breadth and depth of the digital coverage.

The campaign mixed old and familiar tools such as Twitter and Facebook, with new and customized tools. Twitter was augmented by See ‘n’ Report. Like Twitter, See ‘n’ Report collated emails but also SMS and MMS updates whilst providing a campaigners front page, compromising a geographical view, multimedia feeds, SMS feeds, twitter feeds and beautifully compiled video footage using Flowplayer (a video player for the web).

All of which was collated through CoveritLive to provide live coverage of the event. CoveritLive is a viewer that can be embedded on a blog or website to link a combination of Twitter accounts and hashtags (upto 12 twitter accounts and 6 hashtags), reader comments, multimedia and live blogs (through iPhones, Blackberries etc).

Activity was monitored through Cligs which provides analytical tools on traffic going through a site.

DigiActive interviewed one of the organizers, Dr. Awab Alvi.

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Tactic: using MSN Chat logo to show China pride

Description: Users of MSN chat in China are adding a red heart to their MSN names (see image left) to demonstrate their support for China and the Olympics.

Organizer: Unknown but has official support from Microsoft. Appeal asking “Chinese people worldwide to use the red heart to express their love for China and to support Beijing’s Olympic Games” appeared on the Chinese MSN homepage.

Purpose of Action: Many Chinese feel under attack from France and CNN because the West “supports” Tibetan independence and is “anti-China” and “anti-Olympics.”

Organizing tools used: instant messaging (MSN chat)

Outcome: 7,000,000 people have added the little red heart to their MSN names over the past week.

Ease of Replication: Adding a logo to your MSN chat is very easy. GChat also allows using to add their own image/logo.

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Campaign: Help Fouad Mourtada

Description of Campaign: On February 5, Moroccan Fouad Mourtada was taken into custody for posting a joke profile of Prince Rachid (the King’s brother). Two weeks later, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined over $1000 on a false charge of document identity fraud. The goal of this campaign is to reverse this sentence, which is horribly out of proportion to the offense committed.

Digital Activism Tools: YouTube, web site, G-Chat, Skype, Facebook, digital video, digital photography

How These Tools Are Being Used: First there was the official web site, www.HelpFouad.com with an e-petition asking for Fouad’s release. Members of the campaign both inside and outside Morocco communicated using G-Chat and Skype. Then there was the Facebook group, Help Fouad Mourtada. Through the Facebook group and offline social networks, rallies were organized this past Saturday at Moroccan embassies and consulates in 8 cities around the world (Rabat, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Washington DC, Montreal, Madrid, and London). Digital video and photographs were collected from these rallies made into a video to promote the cause (see below).

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