Introduction: Worldwide Internet Activism and Movements 3
A World of Campaigns
The causes and movements being promoted on the social media are many and
varied—everything from a sustainable natural environment to the 2016 Brexit vote
that separated the United Kingdom from the European Union. But all of these
movements use the Internet to promote the need for the causes, to recruit volun-
teers and donors, to make plans for street protests or other strategic gatherings
and demonstrations, and to knit like-minded individuals and groups together in
fighting for the causes. And, when members are arrested, convicted, jailed, and/or
beaten and harassed, the social media is used to announce those actions and garner
support for the aggrieved individuals and families. Many of these online protests
face daily challenges by their countries’ governments, which are actively trying to
deny access to websites or Internet postings. Additionally, those same governments
are working overtime to identify the individuals who are posting anonymously, so
that they can target these people for harassment and/or arrest. In this regard, the
social media is a two-edged sword, making it easier for government forces to listen
in on conversations between dissidents and to locate and arrest those deemed to
have violated the countries’ oppressive laws.
Traditionally, America and other Western countries have taken free expres-
sion and privacy for granted, and the Internet has always existed on the premise
of openness. While free expression appears intact, concerns have been raised in
recent years over individual privacy and the Web’s culture of openness. In America,
for example, federal government surveillance programs like PRISM, coming into
use in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks, have led many Ameri-
cans to wonder whether their conversations are really private after all. PRISM is
one of the secret National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs revealed
by hacktivist Edward Snowden in 2013. It captures the private data of citizens
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the highest-profile nonprofit organi-
zation standing in defense of individual rights and liberties on the online world.
Launched in 1990, the EFF promotes the privacy of Web users, free expression,
grassroots activism, and technological innovations. Its executive director is attor-
ney Cindy Cohn, whom the National Law Journal named one of the most influen-
tial lawyers in America in 2013. She was also commended in 2006 for “rushing to
the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online.” Through its
worldwide network of members and partners, the EFF advises policymakers and
holds workshops and seminars on threats to Internet access and use.
EFF Staff, n.d. “About EFF.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, as accessed on July 28, 2016, at
https://www.eff.org/about.
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