DigiActive.org

Using a Camera Phone and Youtube to Document Police Brutality in Morocco

Description: The small southern port city of Sidi Ifni in Morocco has recently seen recurrent clashes between the country’s security forces and protesters denouncing rampant unemployment and corruption.  While Le Matin, the country’s leading pro-government newspaper was headlining that calm and normalcy had returned to the city (See Article in French here) a video taken using a cell phone camera was posted on Youtube showing the shocking brutality of police forces and the disproportionate use of force and violence during arrests.

Tools: The Hub

Tool Description: Witness, an organization dedicated to creating exposure of human rights violations all over the globe through the use of video, has launched a beta version of The Hub. The Hub is a collection of videos that focus on human rights issues. Anyone can create an account and upload a video as long as it relates to human rights. Each video page has information and resources about the issue and links to the campaigns where you can take action.

Activist Application: Activists in China have been uploading videos to The Hub to show instances of police violence upon civilian protesters. The videos were originally uploaded to Chinese video hosting sites, but were quickly taken down. There is also a heavy focus on the 2008 Olympics and how bringing the Olympics to China has only made their human rights worse.

Ease of Use: If you or your organization have a video already made, the ease of use is simple. Just follow these steps to create an account and upload your video.

Tactic: Saudi Activist Uses Youtube to Advocate for Womens’ Right to Drive…

Description: On International Women’s Rights day, a video of a woman in Saudi Arabia defying the country’s ban on female drivers in urban areas was posted on the video-sharing site YouTube. At the wheel of her car, rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider, describes the injustice and appeals to the Saudi Government to expand women’s rights in the country and lift the ban.

Organizer: Human Rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider. 125 other people signed an accompanying petition that was delivered to the Saudi Ministry of interior that same day.

Purpose of Action: To celebrate International Women’s Rights day and call for the lifting of the ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia.

Organizing Tools: The video was uploaded to and posted on the video-sharing site Youtube.com

Outcome: The story was picked up by all major international news organizations which has helped to widely publicize the action. Bloggers around the world have also helped amplify the message by writing on the story and posting links to the video, which has so far been viewed more than 120,000 times.

Link to Video with English dubbing

Action Alert: Flood the Jail with Mail

What? “Flood the Jail with Mail” campaign in support of detained Egyptian blogger Kareem Suleiman

When?  April 7th through April 21st

Where? From around the world to a jail cell in Alexandria, Egypt

How? Supporters are urged to send their messages of solidarity by mail to Kareem to the following address:

Alexandria, Borg Al-Arab Prison, Room 1 Section 22, Prisoner Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman, The Arab Republic of Egypt, Kareem’s address in Arabic (mandatory to be included on the envelope)

Why? “to remind Egyptian authorities that Kareem, bloggers in general and prisoners of conscience over all, are not alone.”

Who is organizing the action? FreeKareem Campaign and the Committee to Protect Bloggers

Kareem Suleiman is an Egyptian blogger and law student who was arrested by Egyptian authorities on  Read more »

Campaign: Shanghai’s Middle Class vs. the Maglev

Description of Campaign: Citizens of Shanghai are organizing to prevent the cities maglev train from being extended into their residential neighborhood.

Digital Activism Tools: digital photographs, digital video, blogs, community bulletin boards

How These Tools are Being Used: Digital photos and video are taken at protests, then unploaded onto blogs and community message boards to increase awareness of the protests, which are referred to using the euphemism “strolls.”

source: Washington Post

Tool: Wikis

Tool Description: A wiki is a web page which users can easily edit and add content to by clicking an “edit” tab on the page.
Activist Application: Following the tumultuous elections in Kenya, a Lithuanian activist, Andrius Kulikauskas, is using his community wiki to offer help and provide information about the situation.
Ease of Use: Fairly easy. You can create a wiki for free at sites like Wikispaces.com. This page explains the basics of wiki syntax (the codes for italics, bold, links, etc.). Here is a video which explains the basics of using a wiki:

Tactic: Using Digital Video to Oppose Racism on TV

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

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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Tactic: Pakistanis Use SMS and E-mail to Mobilize

Although President Musharraf ended the state of emergency on December 15, this video is still worth a look. It recounts how Pakistani’s used SMS and e-mail to organize protests against the state of emergency, which was declared November 3rd.

Here’s a key quote from Semar Benala, a protester: “Actually, we do this through e-mail, through SMS’s, because even all the television channels have been shut down, but because we want to bring about change we are, like, trying out other mediums of communication.”

click the image to be taken to the Daily Motion site.

Tool: YouTube

Name: YouTube

Website: http://www.youtube.com

What it is: YouTube is a site where you can upload your digital video for all the world to see

Rating:

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