Amnesty Harnesses Social Networks

By Digital Trends Staff October 10, 2007

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign that will harness the power of social networking sites. Known as Unsubscribe, the aim of the new initiative is to get those on social networks involve in human rights campaigning online. With their connections betweenpeople, social networks make the perfect medium for quickly spreading the word, and the fact that they’re mostly used by the young can only help the cause. According to the Amnesty site,at the Unsubscribe launch, Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said,

“Most campaigns ask you to subscribe – we are asking you to unsubscribe. Online and on the streets, in ‘social media’ and the traditional media, Unsubscribe will engage with the millions of people who passionately believe in the right to a fair trial and the right not to be tortured. It’s time to unite against terrorism and unite against human rights abuses in the ‘war on terror’. Unsubscribe is about rejecting the false choice between terrorism on the one hand and abuse of human rights on the other.”

Social network Bebo has given its full support to Unsubscribe. According to Joanna Shields, President of Bebo,

"The Unsubscribe campaign really speaks the language of Bebo. Bebo is all about people coming together to explore ideas and share their passions and to make a positive impact – key aspects of Amnesty’s new campaign."

Additionally, Amnesty has produced a two-minute film and posters with images from the ‘war on terror.’ The film will be distributed virally online, while the posters will appear in several of Britain’s biggest cities.

It’s not the first time the human rights organization has used the power of the Net. Last year it organized the Irrepressible.info project, aimed atprotecting online freedom of speech. That has around 75,000 members, but Amnesty feels that this new effort can bring many more on board, given the massive popularity of social networks.

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