Social Media and Human Rights Advocacy

Diversionary Words: Trump, China and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…To a large extent, naming and shaming campaigns have become easier to devise and implement in the social media era, requiring relatively modest technological or financial resources to reach wider audiences as well as targeting particular actors (McPherson 2017 ). Moreover, traditional media outlets such as talk radio, network television, and daily newspapers increasingly rely on and feed off content originally produced through social media (Paulussen and Harder 2014 ).…”

See the Responsibilities of Professional News Agencies and NGOs in The Networked Digital Age Through the Xinjiang Cotton Campaign of China

“…And for digital advocacy, she affirms the contributions of social media on amplifying messages, saving efforts on dissemination and tracking engagements. However, the nonnegligible risks lie in the higher possibility of mistakes causing damage to reputation, credibility and professionalism, and the waste of time and money [5]. These concerns have already been proved by the recent Xinjiang Cotton Campaigns provoked by BCI (Better Cotton Initiatives), a global not-for-profit organisation working for sustainable and high-quality cotton production.…”

“…As McPherson said, much digital information from civilian witnesses is not present at the movement of production, so the journalists and investigators should not rely on their direct perceptions to verify civilian witnesses' accounts and the evidence provided by amateurs. Moreover, the manipulation and deception of news stories will inevitably damage organisations' reputations and credibility [5]. Therefore, unlike other profit-oriented but low-income news media and organisations, professional news media and NGOs should take the responsibility of providing authentic and accurate information to overcome the exploitative nature of social media platforms.…”