DigiActive News: Radio Interview (in Australia!)

Written by Mary on April 12, 2008 – 11:08 pm -

Last week, DigiActive Co-Founder Mary Joyce was interviewed for the Australian community radio program The Fourth Estate with Daz Chandler. You can take a listen below by clicking the green arrow:

Topics discussed include the motivation for founding DigiActive, examples of how activists are using Facebook to organize international protests, whether digital activism is elitist, and why it’s a good idea to use online commercial tools for activism.


Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in DigiActive News | No Comments »

DigiActive News: in The New York Times’ blog

Written by Mary on March 19, 2008 – 10:56 pm -

We at DigiActive like to think of ourselves as pretty humble, but we were so thrilled when we saw this that we just had to share it:

ny_time_fouad_450.jpg

DigiActive received a link, a quote, and an image in the New York Times‘ blog, The Lede. (According to them, we’re a “rights group”.) Click the image to read their full post on Fouad.


Tags: , , ,
Posted in DigiActive News | No Comments »

DigiActive News: Fouad Mourtada is Free!

Written by Mary on March 19, 2008 – 12:19 am -

It is with great joy that we break this story. This is a huge victory for digital activism. Thank you to all the people who supported the campaign, both online and offline!

fouad_facebook_free2.jpg

CASABLANCA, March 18 - Fouad Mourtada was released from Oukacha Prison at approximately 8:00pm local time today, having received a royal pardon.

Mr. Mourtada, a 26-year old IT engineer, was taken into custody on February 5th, 2008, and was questioned regarding a fake Facebook profile of King Mohammed VI’s younger brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, which he had created on January 15. During his interrogation, Mr. Mourtada reports that he was beaten, spat on and insulted.

On February 22, Mr. Mourtada was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of $1350 for creating the fake profile. The official charge was identity fraud of an electronic document.

Read more »


Tags: ,
Posted in DigiActive News | 8 Comments »

Guide: Designing an Advocacy Video

Written by Mary on March 16, 2008 – 10:44 pm -

All the cool digital tools in the world aren’t much help without an effective strategy. Posts in the new “Strategy” topic will present ideas for how to fit digital tools into your overarching strategy for change.

In this first post, we will present a strategy for designing a YouTube-style video to promote your cause. A good advocacy video should contain the following elements:

1. Start With Background Info

Assume the person viewing the video knows nothing about your cause. You need to tell the viewer who, what, when, why, and where of the cause you are fighting for. The goal of presenting this information is for the person to understand the injustice that has occurred and why action is needed.

There are two options for presenting this information: slides and voice-over. If you are using slides, just type the information (white text on a back background looks nice). Then animate the slides. For voice-over, you need to write a script of the information and then record it and layer the audio over the video. The slides option is easier as you do not need to edit the audio track.

  • EXAMPLE: Video Denouncing Homophobia

This video denounces the homophobic statements of Sally Kern, an elected representative from the state of Oklahoma in the USA. The first 33 seconds show the use of black-and-white slides to give background information about the issue. Specifically: Who? a State Legislator. What? a speech delivered at a gathering in her district. When? (doesn’t say) Why? she thought only 50 people were listening to her speech. Where? the state of Oklahoma. Read more »


Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Americas, Guides & Resources, Mashups, Mid-East & N. Africa, Video | 5 Comments »

Campaign: Help Fouad Mourtada

Written by Mary on March 5, 2008 – 3:32 pm -

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).

Read more »


Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Campaigns, Digital Images, E-Petitions, Instant Messaging, Internet Telephony, Mid-East & N. Africa, Social Networks, Video | No Comments »

Action Alert: Take a Photo for Fouad

Written by Mary on March 1, 2008 – 10:34 pm -

What? Take a photo of yourself and your friends showing support for Fouad Mourtada, who was sentence to 3 years in prison for posting a joke profile of the Moroccan King’s brother on Facebook.

When? Now!

Where? Send the picture to helpfouad AT gmail.com, the official e-mail address of his campaign

How? Create a sign with a statement in support of Fouad and then take a picture of yourself, a friend, or co-workers, holding the sign.  Then send the picture to the e-mail address above.

Why? to show that many many people support Fouad.

Who is organizing the action? The Committee to Help Fouad


Tags: , ,
Posted in Action Alerts, Digital Images, Mid-East & N. Africa | No Comments »

Action Alert: Sign the Petition to Free Fouad Mourtada

Written by Mary on February 29, 2008 – 8:30 pm -

What? e-petition protesting the 3 year prison sentence of Fouad Mourtada, who posted a joke profile of the Moroccan King’s brother on Facebook.

When? Now!

Where? on the Help Fouad web site at http://helpfouad.com/7437/index.html

How? go to the above URL and sign the e-petition
Why? to show the international opposition to this injustice

Who is organizing the action? The Committee to Help Fouad


Tags: , ,
Posted in Action Alerts, E-Petitions, Mid-East & N. Africa, Social Networks | No Comments »