Theory: The Streisand Effect

Written by Mary on April 22, 2008 – 2:16 pm -

The Streisand Effect refers to instances when Internet censorship has the opposite effect, actually increasing distribution and awareness of the censored material.

Origin of the Term: In 2003 singer Barbra Streisand sued photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for $50 million dollars to force them to remove a picture of her home (see above) from a series of 12,000 pictures of the California coast taken to study the effects of beach erosion. As a result of this peculiar law suit, the picture of her home was disseminated on the Internet and many more people saw it than would have if she had not tried to censor the image.

Application for Activists: How can activists apply the Streisand Effect as a means of countering Internet censorship? The key to the Streisand Effect is distributing the censored material and publicizing the instance of censorship. Without these two elements - distribution and publicity - censored material will not be viewed by a wide enough audience to counteract the original effect of the censorship. The end goal is to show your government that censoring content has the reverse effect, and thus discourage your government from censoring

From a technical perspective, the best way to distribute censored content is by e-mail, though feeds can also be used, as in the case of Amnesty International’s Irrepressible campaign, which allows bloggers to publish a feed of censored blog content on their own blog.

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Posted in Americas, Blogs, Digital Images, Listservs, Social Networks, Theory | No 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 »


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

Digitally Active Org: The Sex Workers Project

Written by Mary on January 15, 2008 – 1:14 am -

Web site: www.sexworkersproject.org
What was it?: The Sex Workers Project, based in New York, has used technology in its mission to defend the rights of sex workers around the world. One of their goals is to remove a rule prohibiting organizations that work with prostitutes from receiving money from the PEPFAR AIDS prevention fund and the federal development agency USAID.
Where is it?: New York, USA
Tools: podcasts, digital video, blog, listservs, SMS

sexworkers.jpg

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Posted in Asia, Blogs, Listservs, Mobile Phones, Organizations, Video | No Comments »

Tactic: Using Digital Video to Oppose Racism on TV

Written by Mary on January 13, 2008 – 4:54 am -

Description: A video shows a clip of a caller using a racial slur on a Fox sports call-in show and then asks viewers to lodge a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Fox News for not deleting the comment from their broadcast.
Organizer: the video has appeared on several blogs, but it is unclear who created it.
Purpose of Action: To punish Fox for airing the racist comment.
Organizing Tools: YouTube
Outcome: The showed aired on December 23rd and no action has yet been taken against the network by the FCC.
Ease of Replication: The is a pretty basic - yet highly effective - style of advocacy video, which cuts between live action clips and white text on a black screen. You will need to video editing skills to create it.

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Tactic: Using Online Games for Organizing

Written by Mary on January 4, 2008 – 9:48 pm -

Organizer: Ron Paul fan site Revolutioni.st
Purpose of Action: Revolutioni.st organized a march in World of Warcraft, the purpose of which was to raise awareness of the presidential candidacy of Ron Paul.
Organizing Tools: World of Warcraft, web site, YouTube
Outcome: About 150 players attended the march, though the effect on Ron Paul’s candidacy was negligible.
Ease of Replication: Extremely easy if you are already a member of the game. You just need to e-mail your friends in the game and tell them to appear at a certain location at a certain time.


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Posted in Americas, Tactics | No Comments »

Event: South by Southwest Interactive

Written by Mary on December 31, 2007 – 4:16 am -

SXSW 2008

What? South by Southwest Interactive Festival
When? March 7-11, 2008
Where? Austin, Texas
Why? To hear some cool digital activism speakers with a music festival and film festival to keep you entertained Read more »


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