Social Media and Human Rights

Judy Abel10/10/09

The Positives

Social Media For Social Change In Peru

Social Media For Social Change In Peru

• Video and social/online media has enabled Indigenous activists and advocates to bring the violence in Bagua and Peruvian Indigenous struggles to international attention.

The Monks Protest in Burma

Human Rights Practitioners

• "To advance human rights requires the capacity to innovate tactics and combine them to create strategies as comprehensive as the problems we face.” - Douglas A. Johnson, United States, Executive Director, Center for Victims of Torture

Human Rights Practitioners

The Concerns

Some issues

• "The Internet's unprecedented global reach and scope combined with the difficulty in monitoring and tracing communications make it the prime tool for extremists and terrorists.” - The Simon Wiesenthal Center

Some issues

• Every aspect of the Internet is being used by extremists of every ilk to repackage old hatred, demean the 'Enemy', to raise funds and since 9/11, recruit and train Jihadist terrorists.

• User-generated material increases the viral spread of extremism online and aids in increasing the social acceptability of hate in mainstream discourse.

Ethical QuestionsThe Use of Social Media in the

Iranian protests vs. the G-20 Summit

Where do we go from here?