TWEETING TO FREEDOM 8
The State Department revealed plans in 2010–2011 to offer up to $30 mil-
lion in grant-funding to support digital activists and to push back against
Internet repression in countries where it occurs.
Through the new digital technologies, the State Department is connecting
directly with people they could not reach before. For example, USAbilAraby,
which the State Department tweets in Arabic, had a retweet reach in 2010
of 570,000 people just days after its launch.
In many developing nations, mobile phone use among women lags behind
the use by men for cultural reasons, and the State Department, through its
mWomen initiative, is trying to bring about more mobile use by women.
In 2010 the State Department launched Civil Society 2.0 to build the tech-
nical capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to accomplish their mis-
sions through the use of connection technologies. Civil Society 2.0 seeks to
match these organizations with technology tools and tech-savvy volunteers
to help raise digital literacy, to strengthen the information and communica-
tions networks of NGOs, and to amplify the impact of civil society move-
ments, especially in the online world (U.S. Department of State, 2011).
Tweeting for Freedom from Smog
Activism on the Internet doesn’t always concern itself with political ideology,
oppression, or repression. The social media is used to push for other kinds of
freedom as well. Increasingly, many activists are using the social media and email
campaigns to push for freedom from polluted air, which can enslave a people
to health problems that are preventable. Examples of such campaigns have been
spearheaded recently by activists in Poland, England, and even China.
Legislators in Krakow, Poland, outlawed the burning of coal to heat homes after
activists pressured them with a Facebook campaign that included some 20,000 fol-
lowers. Motivated by a survey that revealed the city’s air to be the third dirtiest in
Europe, a small group of activists added volunteer night work to their paid day jobs
to do something about the air quality. At the time, their work was totally self-funded.
In London, a similar effort was headed by Simon Birkett, who sent many online
messages to leaders in Europe as they were working on drafting new air-quality-
control proposals. At first, Birkett worked alone and used his own savings to pay
for his campaign to clean up London’s air. Working late into the night, he would
post air-quality-related health studies, smog warnings, and insightful analyses of
pollution laws. According to the London newspaper The Guardian, Birkett became
one of the most important and credible experts on the air in and around London.
Like Krakow and London, other cities around the world are reaping the benefits
of social media campaigns designed to spur lawmakers to clean up rotten air and
the health problems it causes. Even in controlled-media societies like China, the
phenomenon is occurring. In Beijing, for example, social media posts from high-
profile celebrities as well as common everyday citizens have caused lawmakers to
elevate the topic of smog to the top of their agenda.
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