New Media Awards 2007 Atos Origin

Amnesty International

http://www.amnesty.org

Nominated in Advocacy award category.

This site, written in four languages, campaigns for freedom of expression online.
People can highlight this issue by (a) signing a petition (b) putting banners on their sites and blogs (c) publishing dynamically changing fragments of censored information (d) using the database API to bring the censored data into their own sites or (e) clicking through to take further actions on the local Amnesty national sites. By disseminating censored material across the web the irrepressible.info fragments are being seen across the web by nearly 2 million visitors a month.

4 nominations from readers

  • This campaign - with a petition currently standing at over 63,000 names - succeeded in bringing human rights to the top of the agenda at the Internet Governance Forum in November 2006. Because of its nature, the campaign was principally conducted online. Nearly 2 million visitors a month see the dynamic fragment of censored content on blogs and sites around the world.

    The site is an innovative model of internet advocacy that uses an approach which appeals to web-based audiences that feel strongly about these issues, such as bloggers, web producers and developers.

    The site started as an Amnesty UK-only initiative in partnership with The Observer, Soda Creative and OpenNet, but was so popular with the global Amnesty International movement it soon developed into the multilingual version we see today. It's a very simple idea and is backed up by some emblematic action cases on the various Amnesty sites across the world, creating a gateway for activists wishing to get more deeply involved.

    One page on the site is dedicated to Irrepressible.info’s blogging community - www.irrepressible.info/blogs - and shows, at a glance, that many new bloggers are finding and featuring the dynamic fragment or writing about irrepressible.info every day.

    Irrepressible.info is a simple idea that uses the technology to make its point in a non-gimmicky way by capturing the spirit of the internet, particularly its importance as a force for change, as a tool of personal publishing and of information democratisation.

    Nominated by Mel Herdon, 02 March 2007

  • most original

    Nominated by Maria Cereceda, 07 March 2007

  • This is an innovative campaigning site, using new web technologies to bring together online activists to campaign for freedom for their counterparts in less open countries.

    Nominated by donnachadelong, 07 March 2007

  • Because the new media is a new area of freedoms but also restrictions and human rights abuses.

    The world shoul dknow more about it and Irrepressible and raising awareness and creativng activism around concrete cases such as that of Shi Tao.

    Nominated by Karen, 16 April 2007

8 comments from readers

  • This internet campaign, echoing the freedom of expression campaign that started Amnesty International 45 years ago, was an amazing example of how old campaigning methods can be updated to be relevant and effective in the modern era, and especially relevant to young people who might be put off by traditional letter-writing campaigns.

    Submitted by Gordon Bennett, 08 March 2007

  • Engaging. Innovative. Right on.

    Submitted by Elizabeth A. Haydn-Jones, 08 March 2007

  • The irrepressible.info campaign has already had some impact - Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! have agreed to joint talks with Amnesty and other NGOs about how to work in countries like China while respecting human rights.

    Submitted by Steve Ballinger, 08 March 2007

  • Effective and easy to use, I love the way irrespressible has grown, putting freedom of expression online on the agenda for many people

    Submitted by Corinne, 08 March 2007

  • This campaign site brilliantly highlighted and disseminated the type of online material censored by governments and aided & abetted by the software giants. The take-up by the online community, especially bloggers, has been impressive. The success of the site meant that censorship became a major theme of last November's Internet Governance Forum.

    Submitted by Patrick Corrigan, 08 March 2007

  • we tend to take freedom of expression for granted, yet people in other parts of the world aren't so lucky. The irrepressible campaign is a reminder to us all about our responsibility to defend freedom of expression all over the globe.

    Submitted by Patrick O'Neill, 08 March 2007

  • This site is very innovative and was partly responsible for human rights gaining considerable prominence at the Internet Governance Forum in Athens last Autumn.

    A great site that bloggers across the world have taken to their hearts!

    Submitted by Paul Eagle, 09 March 2007

  • Irrespressible.info is one of the best recent initiatives on the net - an essential campaign for freedom of expression. I love the dynamic fragment - it's all over the blogosphere. Keep spreading the word.

    Submitted by Veronique Dupont, 12 March 2007