The Power of Instagram Activism

The power of Instagram as an activism tool lies in its ability to connect people through visuals and personal stories. As a predominantly visual platform, Instagram provides activists with the opportunity to engage their audience emotionally and inspire action. The platform also allows for easy sharing of content, which helps activists disseminate their messages to a wider audience.

Prominent Instagram Activists

In this section, we will profile five prominent human rights activists who have effectively used Instagram to amplify their messages and mobilize supporters.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. Through her Instagram account, she shares her advocacy for girls’ education, personal stories, and updates on her work with the Malala Fund. Malala’s use of visuals and storytelling helps to engage her audience and raise awareness for her cause.

Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist, has garnered global attention for her fight against climate change. Her Instagram posts often feature her attending protests, giving speeches, or sharing facts about climate change. By using the platform to document her activism journey, Greta has managed to mobilize a global movement of young climate activists.

Deray Mckesson

Deray Mckesson is an American civil rights activist and a prominent figure in the Black Lives Matter movement. His Instagram account is a mix of personal moments, protest images, and informative content related to racial injustice. Through Instagram, Deray connects with supporters and keeps them informed about ongoing issues and ways to help.

Emma González

Emma González is a gun control advocate and survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. She uses her Instagram account to raise awareness about gun violence and advocate for gun control legislation. By sharing powerful images and messages, Emma has become a leading voice for change.

Opal Tometi

Opal Tometi is a human rights activist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. Her Instagram account showcases her work in racial justice, immigration rights, and gender equality. Opal’s visually engaging content and strategic use of hashtags have helped her reach a wider audience and mobilize support for her causes.

Strategies and Techniques for Instagram Activism

Activists on Instagram employ various strategies and techniques to maximize their impact. Here are five key approaches that have proven successful:

Storytelling

One of the most effective ways to engage an audience is through storytelling. Activists can share their personal experiences or the stories of those affected by the issues they are advocating for. This helps humanize their cause and evokes empathy, motivating followers to take action.

Visual Content

Instagram is a visually-driven platform, making compelling visuals essential for capturing attention. Activists can use photographs, illustrations, infographics, or videos to convey their message and create an emotional connection with their audience.

Collaboration and Networking

Collaborating with other activists, influencers, or organizations can help expand an activist’s reach and impact. By partnering with like-minded individuals, activists can tap into new audiences, share resources, and amplify their message.

Hashtags and Trends

Using relevant hashtags and participating in trending conversations can increase an activist’s visibility on the platform. By strategically employing hashtags and earning more likes, activists can connect with a larger audience interested in the topics they are advocating for.

Consistency and Engagement

Consistent posting and engagement with followers are crucial for building a strong online presence. By regularly sharing content and interacting with their audience, activists can foster a sense of community and maintain momentum for their cause.

The Impact of Instagram Activism

The impact of Instagram activism can be seen in the increased awareness and support for various human rights issues. Many activists have successfully mobilized global movements and influenced policy changes through their online presence. While the true extent of their impact may be difficult to measure, the reach and influence of these activists on Instagram are undeniable.

Challenges and Criticisms

Despite its potential for positive change, Instagram activism is not without challenges and criticisms. Some argue that the platform can promote superficial engagement, known as “slacktivism,” where users show support without taking meaningful action. Additionally, the visual nature of Instagram can lead to the commodification of activism, with aesthetics sometimes overshadowing the message. It is essential for activists to be aware of these pitfalls and work to maintain authenticity and depth in their advocacy.

Conclusion

Instagram has provided human rights activists with a unique and powerful platform to amplify their messages and mobilize supporters. Through storytelling, compelling visuals, collaboration, and strategic use of hashtags, activists like Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Deray Mckesson, Emma González, and Opal Tometi have made a significant impact on a global scale. While challenges and criticisms exist, the potential for positive change through Instagram activism cannot be ignored.

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The Charter of the United Nations, signed on June 26, 1945, states that the main task of the UN is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was drafted by the UN Commission on Human Rights and adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Undoubtedly, the adoption of the UDHR was a great breakthrough, and today the Declaration remains the most important human rights instrument in the world. Even without being legally binding, the UDHR has inspired numerous commitments to human rights, whether at the national, regional or international level. Since then, the international community has developed and adopted a number of fundamental instruments designed to guarantee the declared principles. Further information on some of these international agreements can be found later in this chapter.

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In England and France, slavery was outlawed in the early nineteenth century, and in 1814 the British and French governments signed the Treaty of Paris for cooperation in suppressing the slave trade. The Brussels Conference of 1890 saw the signing of the Act against Slavery, which was later ratified by eighteen states. The intention was hereby proclaimed to put an end to the slave trade from Africa.
Better to die of hunger free than to be a well-fed slave. Aesop

However, this did not solve the problem of forced labor and the continuing brutal working conditions. Even the 1926 International Convention on the Suppression of the Slave Trade and Slavery, aimed at abolishing slavery in all its forms, failed to stop the daily use of forced labor until the 1940s.

The creation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1919 was the materialization of the idea that universal and lasting peace could only be achieved through the principle of social justice. The ILO developed a system of international labor standards to ensure decent conditions for productive work, freedom, equality, safety and dignity of workers.
One of the ILO’s areas of work is to combat the exploitation of child labor, especially in its worst forms. Today this work takes place on many fronts, including the promotion of international agreements on child labor, such as ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment.
From 1899 to 1977, many important treaties in the field of international humanitarian law were concluded, and they outlined a new area of cooperation between states in its first phase.

International humanitarian law brings armed conflicts into the legal sphere. There is no doubt that both international humanitarian law and human rights must be respected in all cases, for example with regard to prisoners of war. However, international humanitarian law describes in more detail special measures for conflict cases, such as the permissibility of the use of weapons and military tactics.

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In 1215, the English nobility and the clergy, by adopting the Magna Carta, compelled the king of England to rule by law. The Charter protected mainly the rights of a privileged class (the nobility), so we are not talking about human rights as such here. But the charter became a document that people often cited to protect their freedoms because it limited royal power and recognized people’s freedoms and rights.

In 1689 the English Parliament passed a law declaring that it would no longer tolerate royal interference in its affairs. This document, known as the Bill of Rights, forbade the monarch to suspend laws without the consent of parliament, stipulated the free election of members of parliament, and declared that freedom of speech in parliament could not be challenged in the courts or elsewhere.
Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) is widely known as the founder of the science of international law. In his book On the Law of War and Peace, he presented a system of general principles based on “natural law,” which he believed should unite all nations, regardless of local laws and customs. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some European philosophers continued to develop the concept of “natural rights.”
John Locke (1689) developed the theory that everyone has some rights from birth, and they are not granted by governments or their laws. The legitimacy of government depends, in fact, on the extent to which it respects these natural rights. The idea that certain legal guarantees should flow from natural human rights has become increasingly recognized and reflected in the constitutions of a number of countries. Human rights reformulated this idea into a system of relationships between governments and citizens.
In 1776, most of the British colonies in North America declared their independence from the British Empire by adopting the Declaration of Independence of the United States. The Declaration was largely based on Locke’s and Montesquieu’s theories of the “natural rights” of man. Founded on the belief that at the heart of everything is the protection of liberties by the power of the state, the Declaration stood up for such concepts as: inalienable right, protection of human rights, freedom of speech, press, petition and assembly, right to privacy, to a fair trial; equality before the law and freedom of religion.
The purpose of any political union is to secure the natural and inalienable rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, 1789, France

In 1789 the French overthrew the monarchy in their country and established the first French Republic. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was born of the Revolution and was written by members of the clergy, nobility, and ordinary citizens, who thus implemented the ideas of prominent enlighteners such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, the encyclopedists, and Rousseau. The Declaration sharply criticized the political and legal system of the monarchy, and defined “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression” as natural human rights. The Declaration replaced the system of aristocratic privileges that had existed under the monarchy with the principle of equality before the law. But it took a long time to put its egalitarian principles and concepts of equal rights into practice. There was deep injustice in society at the time, and it took the efforts of several generations to make the declaration a reality.

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• King Hammurabi’s Code of Laws (Iraq, about 2000 B.C.) was the first written code of laws established by this ruler of Babylon. It vowed to “rule the kingdom justly, to exterminate the wicked and cruel, not to allow the strong to oppress the weak, … to enlighten the country, and to promote the welfare of the people.
• The words of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh (about 2000 B.C.) are quoted, instructing his subordinates: “When a petitioner comes from the Upper or Lower Nile, make sure that everything goes according to law, that the custom is followed and the rights of every person are respected.
• The Charter of Cyrus (Iran, about 539 B.C.) was drawn up by King Cyrus of Persia for the people of his country. The charter recognized the right of the people to liberty and security, religious tolerance, freedom of movement, freedom from slavery, and certain social and economic rights.
• The teachings of Confucius (about 500 B.C.) are based on the concept of ren, the main idea of which is compassion and love for others. Confucius said: “Do not wish for others what you do not wish for yourself.” The Chinese expert on Confucianism, Dr. Peng Chang, who took an active part in the drafting of the UDHR (see section 5.6.1 below), believed that Confucius’ teachings were the basis of the idea of protecting human rights.
• Imam Ali ibn al-Hussein wrote his “Epistle of Rights” in the early eighth century A.D. To our knowledge, this letter is the first documentary evidence of how human rights were treated in that era, and it was the first attempt at a positive, rather than negative, approach to the concept of human rights. In methodological terms, this epistle provides a list of 50 such human rights, and in spirit they reflect the views of early Islam.
• The Mande Charter or Kurukan Fuga (1236 A.D.) systematizes the oral forms of West African traditions and advocates principles such as decentralization, environmental protection, human rights, and cultural diversity.
• The African view of the world, denoted by the Zulu word “ubuntu” (humanity), captures the very essence of humanism. This notion beautifully emphasizes the importance of respect for all community members, hospitality, and generosity. The expression “one becomes human in the community of others” best captures the content of the word “ubuntu,” and this concept as a whole is directly related to human rights. If we become human beings in human society, then by depriving others of their right to be human, we ourselves cease to be human. This is why it is so important and necessary to stand up for the rights of others, to forgive and be forgiven, and to respect the rights of others.

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