Category Archives: By the People

Civil Society and Social Media

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The term “civil society” can seem almost as amorphous as the term “social media.”  Yet the two are becoming ever more powerfully linked to the promotion of democracy and human rights in the modern world.

Civil society can encompass any collection of nongovernmental activists, organizations, congregations, writers and/or reporters.  They bring a broad range of opinions to the marketplace of ideas and are considered critical to a vibrant, well-functioning democracy.  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has described a free civil society as the third critical element to democracy – the other two being a representative government and a well-functioning market.

Social media consists of forms of electronic communication – typically using Internet- and mobile-based tools – which allow the creation of online communities to share information and ideas.

Pakistani University students use their mobile phones to record video of a protest condemning the killing of the governor of Punjab.

Civil society increasingly relies on social media because it is accessible, fast, efficient and easy to use. Seeing how social media can buttress civil society, the Obama administration launched an initiative back in 2009 to help grassroots organizations around the world master and effectively use digital technology.

In some countries with repressive governments that control traditional print, radio and televised media, social media may be the only access people have to unfettered discussions of issues. Philip Howard, an associate professor and author of the soon-to-be released book called “The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy,” says that for civil society in the 21st century, social media creates “a digital ‘safe harbor’ in which conversations can incubate.”

“Information infrastructure is politics,” Howard says.  “In many nations, it also is far more participatory than the prevailing traditional political culture. As a result, the new technology-based politics democratizes the old, elite-driven arrangements. Every time a citizen documents a human rights abuse with her mobile phone, uses a shared spreadsheet to track state expenditures, or pools information about official corruption, she strengthens civil society and strikes a blow for democracy.”

Social media, of course, is a double-edged sword:  it can be used for good as well as for ill.  The question is:  Will the good uses outweigh the bad?  What do you think?

Democracy Depends on Civil Society

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been putting greater emphasis on the critical importance of civil society to democracy.  What’s “civil society”?  Individuals like you and me.

Civil society, she said in a speech in July 2010 before a meeting of the Community of Democracies in Krakow, Poland, “undergirds both democratic governance and broad-based prosperity.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, “whether the goal is better laws or lower crime or cleaner air or social justice or consumer protection or entrepreneurship and innovation, societies move forward when the citizens that make up these groups are empowered to transform common interests into common actions that serve the common good.”

In too many places, however, governments constrain civil society by forbidding individuals to meet and work together.  This is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 20, which upholds the right to peaceful assembly and association.

The United States, Clinton said, is committed to doing more to defend freedom of association, via diplomatic pressure, providing protection to activists where possible, amplifying the voices of activists by having U.S. government officials meet with them publicly at home and abroad and cite their work.

“We can also provide technical training that will help activists make use of new technologies such as social networks,” Clinton said. “When possible, we should also work together to provide deserving organizations with financial support for their efforts.”

What do you think are the best ways to protect civil society and freedom of association?

Egyptians Create Their Own Paths to Freedom of Speech

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What do you do when officials in your country are limiting freedom of speech, but you have a message to distribute to the world?  That’s a question some Egyptians have been dealing with as they demonstrate in the streets and call for economic and political reforms.  The answer for many has been to create new paths of communication using old technologies. 

And Egyptians’ communication workarounds seem to be working. When the Egyptian government hit the “Internet kill switch,” effectively shutting down access to the web in Egypt, citizens turned to DSL dialup services, modem-sharing, and have even created what has been called an independent “mesh” of connections that allow them to circumvent official Egyptian networks.   Fax machines have also proven useful tools for distributing information within the country as well as sending messages out to the international press.  Once Egyptian officials reestablished mobile phone service, Egyptian citizens started using Google’s new speak-to-tweet service, calling a designated number to leave a voicemail message that would then be turned into a tweet and broadcast via Twitter. 

Many consider such technologies – fax machines, dial-up, and voicemail – out-dated, but they have proven invaluable to activists and regular citizens who have been cut off from more modern communication tools.  By turning to these technologies, and with help from companies, organizations, and regular men and women outside of Egypt who are sympathetic to the Egyptian cause, Egypt’s citizens are creating their own paths to Freedom of Speech. 

Learn more:

President Obama’s statement on the events in Egypt

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Can Social Media Actually Hurt the Spread of Democracy?

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The use of social media has been hailed as an aid to democracy activists, as seen most recently in the use of Facebook and Twitter in Tunisia.

“Democracy depends on individuals’ ability to express ideas, access independent information, and communicate with others,” says Michael Posner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.  “We saw how Twitter was used in Iran to organize rallies and get around a news blackout. Facebook was used to organize a multinational protest against the FARC, a Colombian narcoterrorist group.”

But if social media is playing an increasingly important role in spreading information about democracy, where does that leave the sizable population around the world that doesn’t have online access?

“The digital divide is a huge problem. So is the democracy divide,” says social media expert Steve Clift.  “We don’t want the Internet to result in a greater concentration of power by leaving online democracy to just those most active in politics.”  He urged helping nongovernmental organizations get a greater online voice, something the Obama administration has tried to do via an initiative to help grassroots organizations master digital technology.

What do you think?  Is online access hurting the spread of democracy by creating greater concentrations of power among those who have it?

Is Civil Society the Conscience of a Community?

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In his speech last year to the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama said that “civil society is the conscience of our communities.”

The dictionary defines conscience as “the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives.”  But can a society collectively have a conscience?  And, is civil society that collective conscience?

In his speech, President Obama also expressed confidence that the free flow of ideas is essential to personal freedom and, ultimately, democracy.  The assumption is that free societies will ultimately choose the right path.

Lech Walesa, once a humble electrician, led the Solidarity freedom movement in communist Poland.

Certainly there are plenty of examples of how the desire for personal and societal freedom continuously simmers under even the most repressive regimes.  Aung San Suu Kyi and fellow like-minded activists have endured decades of repression and yet remain steadfast in their support for a free and democratic Burma.  Liu Xiaobo is only the latest in a long line of individuals who have endured government harassment and imprisonment for speaking out for greater human rights in China.

But civil society does have the power to overcome repressive regimes and promote freedom.  One of the most notable in recent history was the trade union Solidarity’s ultimate success in instituting democratic reforms in what was then communist Poland.  In past weeks, the people in Tunisia have had tentative success in shaking off an undemocratic government.

What do you think?  Is civil society the conscience of our communities?

Learn more:

The Evolving Work of Democracy

Building Religious Tolerance One Hour at a Time

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Two U.S. officials – one charged with fighting anti-Semitism and the other a representative to Muslim communities – are planning to travel the world in the coming year to promote religious tolerance via volunteerism.

The program is tentatively dubbed “Campaign 2011 – Hours against Hate,” according to Farah Pandith, the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities.  The goal of the program is to build mutual respect while making a positive difference in the community.  This initiative, says Hannah Rosenthal, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, can make a “huge difference.”

Jewish and Muslim volunteers give their Christian counterparts a break on Christmas Day by working at a food bank in Michigan.

“A Jew will give their time to, perhaps, work at a nursery with young Muslim kids, or give a lecture at a school to volunteer in a Muslim community,” Pandith explained in a recent interview.  “A Muslim will also then go out and go to a community of Jews and do something that helps that community in some way, whether it’s helping build a school or it’s donating their hours to feeding the poor — whatever it happens to be.”

But it hardly takes a State Department initiative to get these programs going – just the willpower of some local citizens.  In Michigan, for example, Muslims and Jews joined forces to work service projects on Christmas Day (December 25).  The idea was to allow the Christian workers time off to enjoy their Christian holiday, according to a report by The Muslim Observer.  And in the City of Detroit in Michigan, Muslims, Jews and Christians remembered the 9/11 tragedy by participating in a weekend filled with community service as part of “Acts of Kindness (A-OK) Detroit: A Weekend of Remembrance and Restoration.”

But promoting religious tolerance doesn’t have to be all work and no play, as proven by Orange County’s Muslim Basketball League (MBL) in California.  Despite the league’s name, each team is required to have one non-Muslim for every three Muslim players. Allowing non-Muslims to play broadens the league’s contacts with the community, brings in different talent and teaches others about Islam

Please share your ideas for “Hours against Hate” by sending in your comments.

Learn more:

Mutual Respect Crucial For Religious Freedom

Muslims, Volunteerism and Community Spirit Unite in Basketball

Connecting Volunteerism with Spirituality on Chicago Streets

American Muslims Hold Nationwide Day of Service on September 11

To Know Me Is To Love Me? Perhaps Not.

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January 16 is Religious Freedom Day here in the United States, which got me to thinking:  Why does religious intolerance still exist in the modern world?

Many nations have joined the United Nations in condemning religious persecution, and certainly the United States strongly upholds religious freedom.  No matter what their personal religion, most people have plenty of opportunities to learn about other religions from television and the Internet.  In many communities, interfaith understanding events are available.  Travel opportunities are more accessible than ever, so more people can travel to different countries and learn about different religions – or at least meet travelers of different religions who visit theirs.

There’s an old cliché that says “to know me is to love me” – suggesting that knowledge fosters understanding which fosters, if not love, at least tolerance. But clearly that isn’t necessarily the case. Why not?

The U.S. Department of Justice tracks hate crimes in the United States, and according to its statistics, 14 percent of hate crimes reported to the police in this country are about religion.  Shockingly, the major reason found among those who commit hate crimes of any type is “thrill seeking.”

Perhaps the missing ingredient needed for more religious tolerance is respect.  What are your thoughts?

Learn more:

Mutual Respect Crucial for Religious Freedom

Justice Department Web site:  What Motivates Hate Offenders?

What Can Individuals Do to Preserve Freedom?

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Protestors in Tunisia

The number of free countries – as measured by the level of protection of the political rights and civil liberties of its citizens – is steadily declining, according to the latest findings by Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization that monitors the state of democracy and human rights around the world.

Freedom House places the blame for this sorry state of affairs on bolder authoritarian regimes coupled with inadequate resistance from democratic countries.  But it seems ordinary people have a responsibility as well to protect civil liberties within their homelands and support those who work for freedom around the world.  But what is the best way for an individual to do that?

Citizens in democratic countries probably have an easier time pressuring their governments to uphold human rights both at home and abroad.  But citizens in countries that have slid into repressive authoritarianism risk beatings and prison time if they make similar demands.  And, let’s face it — most of us are inclined to avoid suffering no matter what the cause.  Still, that’s not an excuse for moral cowardice.

In my work, I’ve been impressed with the number of human rights activists who use technology, despite its own risks.  And many people counter the evils of repression by helping the victims – such as volunteers who help refugees and torture survivors. 

What do you think you could do to help protect freedom at home and abroad?

Learn more:

Technology Helps, Hurts Human Rights Activists, Report Says

Volunteers Make supporting Human Rights a Personal Endeavor

“They Just Have Good Hearts”