Freedom Of Expression And Human Rights - 2007 Words

According to article 19 of the United Nations International Bill of Rights, â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,† but what does this mean for the 193 UN member countries of the 196 countries in the world today? In a world where statements such as freedom of expression and human rights have such broad definitions, it is often hard to determine the effects of such clauses; especially when many citizens in countries of the world today struggle to exercise their freedom of expression due to strict governments. Countries such as China and Egypt have used†¦show more content†¦Many criticisms have been made on the validity of social media’s impact on activism because of its lack of the strong, personal bonds required in high-risk activism as in such prominent activist campai gns as the Civil Rights Movement. Social media is not as effective in creating a significant impact in social activism compared to actual riots and protests. It lacks the centralized,structured focus needed for effective social movements. Critics of social media and its growing impact would argue that the impersonal nature of social media does not promote action and personal sacrifice so much as it promotes participation in spreading the message of the cause and support of the values of the cause. The argument is made that â€Å"activists† on social media would rather â€Å"like a page on Facebook† or â€Å"follow a Twitter account† than risk their lives for the sake of their causes which is reflected in many statistics that show a low ratio between the amount of â€Å"likes† received on a page and the amount of action taken to aid in fixing the problem being presented; for example, the popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that became a world-wide internet p henomenon. According to the Charities Aid Foundation, only about 10 percent of UK participants involved in the challenge actually donated to the cause. Also, according to a study done by the business intelligence firm