As some of you are well aware, Global Wire Associates has been expanding its services into the Middle East and eastern Africa for the last year, and we are pleased to tell you that we will be doing a series of workshops in the region in September and October.  Most of the trainings will be geared towards both beginners and advanced users of mobile phones.

We look forward to meeting the tech activism solutions for both our old and new clients.  Shoot us an email at info (at) globalwireonline (dot) org if you are in Tel Aviv, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam or Abu Dhabi if you would like to participate in a workshop.

In Solidarity,

Talia, Marjane, Philip and Maria

Monday morning, the Israel Defense Force raided a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where nine activists were fatally shot. Everyone seems to agree up until that point. The interesting thing about this whole situation is how both sides used online video to plead their cases, possibly giving insight into how communications and PR spin fixates itself into international relations.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the activists on board “deliberately attacked soldiers.”

And IDF has video to prove their point:

Meanwhile the folks on the flotilla tell a different story. The Free Gaza Movement says that “Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep.”

From the Guardian:

The Scottish journalist and documentary film-maker Hassan Ghani, 24 and from Glasgow, was on board the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish vessel attacked by Israeli forces. He was seen broadcasting for PressTV as the commandos took control of the ship. In footage shown on YouTube, Ghani said: “This is the MC Marmara, Hassan Ghani reporting for PressTV. We’ve had several injuries here; one is critical. He has been injured in the head and we think he may die if he doesn’t receive medical treatment urgently. Another person being passed in front of me right now has been seriously injured. We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades. We’ve navy ships on either side. We’re being attacked from every single side. This is international waters and not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone. We’re being attacked in international waters completely illegally.”

Sebastián Piñera, the newly elected president of Chile, has asked all cabinet members to start tweeting. His own account is now the most-followed in the country. Venezuala’s Hugo Chávez tweets too (@chavezcandanga). In June only three Japanese politicians had accounts; now Politter, a site dedicated to Twitter and Japanese politics, lists 485. An analysis of last year’s German elections by the University of St Gallen discovered that 577 politicians had opened Twitter accounts, three-quarters of them in 2009. Greece’s prime minister George Papandreou uses Twitter. But @primeministergr is the office, not the man. His staff tweet for him, sometimes using a code to signal who wrote what.

However, does social media make politicians more accessible to their constituents and detractors? Possibly not. President Barack Obama won the White House, thanks in part to his campaign’s strong use of social media. According to the article, “at its height Barack Obama’s campaign (@barackobama) employed 100 staff working on social media such as Twitter.” Nonetheless, “the scale of response makes it hard for office-holders to tweet themselves. Mr Obama reads just a select ten of the messages (20,000 of all kinds) he receives daily.”

Recently, Global Wire went out and interviewed ordinary people about their thoughts on this matter. Some opinions were negative.

“At first, it might seem cool to follow and send tweets to your favorite politicians, but then you realize that the politician’s Twitter account is being run by some intern or secretary in their office, which I think defeats the purpose of politicians connecting with your constituents about their concerns,” said Nadya Ghanem of Turkey.

“What is the point of connecting with politicians online when they are not really connecting with you,” said Luis Calbarro of Suriname. “It’s like Twitter is no different from sending an email to a politician’s office and not getting a response. It might be read or thrown in a inbox with other Tweets. It is all window dressing.”

But some were hopeful of the future of political tweeting, like Shelly Kim from South Korea, who was exciting see the digital activism in her country’s recent presidential election. Last March there was some controversy over the use of Twitter by South Korean lawmakers and making it accessible for all.

“I have seen the power of why social media is being taken more seriously by politicians because they really do listen to what the people have to say,” she said.

Last week American actor Danny Glover was arrested with 11 other activists for participating in a nonviolent protest against Sodexo.

From Huliq:

…The group was arrested after crossing a police line outside the company’s offices, refusing to step back.

The twelve, including Danny Glover, were issued citations for trespassing and released. Police stated that the dozen could face a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail.

Actions like the one involving Danny Glover have taken place at 11 sites across the U.S. The actions were reportedly taken after 16 Sodexo workers, including Shelly, were laid off after trying to unionize or becoming involved in union activities. Sodexo said it was not against unionization, per se. Instead, it accused the SEIU of inciting the Sodexo employees…

From AFP:

…”We’re here today to say no more to deplorable pay and working conditions,” Glover told the crowd of around 300 as they shouted “No Justice, No Pizza”, a reference to cafeteria workers who claim they are underpaid and receive few benefits from Sodexo.

“This is a global corporation with global responsibility and we are going to hold them accountable to that responsibility,” said Glover…

There are so many celebrities these days that only take on causes as a publicity stunt to help further their own careers. But then you have people like Glover who are serious about their activism.

With that said, as more social activists move to using technology, having a dedicated high profile person on board helps to give an important cause an added boast that would otherwise not get the attention it deserves.

To watch more videos and photos from the protest, click here

Global food giant Nestlé has been under a critical spotlight for alleged poor corporate and social practices for many years. Recently, activists have accused the company of several problems, including only one percent of Nestlé cocoa products are FairTrade certified, continued child slavery in the cocoa supply chain, and its baby milk products not meeting international standards. The latest accusation of Nestlé’s bad practices is now being seen loud and clear through a viral video, which is another great example of digital activism.

Greenpeace UK uploaded a video on Youtube, showing an office worker opening a Kit Kat and finding an orangutan’s finger. Nestlé, which produces the popular chocolate bar, is being blamed by the green justice group of buying palm oil, which is used in many of its products, from Indonesian producer Sinar Mar. As a result, Greenpeace claims that this partnership has resulted in destroyed rainforests where Indonesia’s last orangutans live and has created a devastating carbon footprint.

From CNN:

In the last 50 years, an area more than twice the size of Germany has been logged, burned or otherwise degraded, with palm oil plantations being a major cause, according to Greenpeace.

On Wednesday, Nestlé released a statement denying it buys palm oil from Sinar Mar for any of its products, including Kit Kats.

“We do purchase palm oil from Cargill and we have sought assurances from them about their supply chain,” it said.

“Cargill has informed us that Sinar Mas needs to answer Greenpeace’s allegations by the end of April. They have indicated that they will de-list Sinar Mas if they do not take corrective action by then.

“Nestlé recently undertook a detailed review of its supply chain to establish the source of its palm oil supplies and we have made a commitment to using only ‘Certified Sustainable Palm Oil’ by 2015, when sufficient quantities should be available.”

Greenpeace claims that Nestlé asked YouTube to remove the video citing copyright concerns. Specifically Nestlé was bothered by the twist on the Kit Kat’s famous slogan used at the end of the video: “Have a break? Give orangutans a break.” However, the video was reposted the next day. Greenpeace said the video being taken down was a censorship attempt, which was “a pretext for stopping the word being spread and an apparent attempt to silence us.”

Elsewhere online, approximately 90,000 Nestle protesters have taken over the company’s Facebook page, to make their grievances clear, creating possibly one of the largest digital protests since last summer’s Iranian election protests. In the long run, the Nestle debacle might show other companies how not to deal with online crisis communications. While Greenpeace created a very effective and (very graphic) video, the question always remains: Will digital activists take their protests offline and actually stop eating Kit Kats in the long term? Only time will tell.

The “i know” effort is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Act Against AIDS campaign, which uses multiple social media platforms to reach out to African American youth with facts about HIV/AIDS with the aim to engage them in open conversation.

“By supporting frank conversations through social media, ‘i know’ creates an opportunity for young people to talk directly with each other about the issues that fuel this still-deadly disease,” said Kevin Fenton, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “Their ideas and involvement will be a critical part of the solution.”

The campaign uses a mix of both old and new media. Followers have a choice of using Twitter, Facebook and texting to get alerts and status updates on HIV knowledge and attitudes, as well as links to information about HIV testing and prevention. The campaign’s website allows users to identify local HIV testing sites and campaign events and video stories of those living with HIV. There are also radio and online video public service announcements that has actor Jamie Foxx calling for a new discussion on HIV.

Since the campaign’s launch on March 4, hundreds of users have become followers of the various platforms and it seems that the campaign has initially succeeded in engaging users, as can be seen with the many status re-tweets and discussion. While it is good that social media is being used in this campaign, it should also be highlighted that the campaign’s radio use is just as important, as many African-Americans still see the significance of this medium for getting out information within their community. However, it will take a longer amount of time to actually determine if both the online and radio efforts turn into offline actions.

Last year’s droughts throughout Africa were some of the worst in decades, causing higher food prices, illness among both people and animals and destroyed crops that took months to repair. To address these problems, the Agricultural Index Insurance Initiative at the Syngenta Foundation launched last week Kilimo Salama, Swahili for “safe farming”, to provide insurance plans for Kenyan farmers.

Here is how it works: When purchasing seeds from an retailer, farmers register to insure their seeds by filling in the insurance card. The registration process is completed when the farmer sends a text message on their mobile phone, and a record is created in a database. A local weather station records the rainfall and sends the data to the insurance company, which then calculates a payout according to an agronomic model. At the end of the season the farmer receives a text message if there is a payout and can pick up their payout at the original retailer where the insurance was purchased.

Kilimo Salama actually began as a small pilot project last year with a group of 200 farmers in the central region of Laikipia. Most of the farmers were highly impressed with the program, as many of them received a payout of up to 80 percent. This year the insurance program will cover at least 5,000 maize and wheat farmers in Central, Rift Valley and Western provinces, which is at high risk of drought. This program shows that even a simple tool like a mobile phone can make a big difference in the lives of many.

Keeping with the spirit of International Women’s Day, the staff throw our founder and social entrepreneur Talia Whyte a surprise “digital” anniversary party in celebration of the incredible work she has done over the years.

We will also be announcing some new initiatives in the next few weeks about engaging more women social entrepreneurs in creating innovative communication for advancing social justice.

Maria, Philip & Marjane

Controversy has not only marred the 2010 Winter Olympics because of the tragic death of 21 year old luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, but also with 200 masked protesters who smashed windows of department stores and splattered red paint across Olympic venues in Vancouver.

Police said the group marched through the shopping district, vandalizing cars and stores. Protesters also threw metal boxes on display windows of Hudson’s Bay Company, where Olympic souvenirs are sold.

Vancouver has been facing problems ever since the run-up started to the games. Lack of actual snow, hundreds of millions in losses as NBC expected to take broadcasting the games, and now the luger death spelling riots.

Vancouverians have been upset about the way the Olympic games have been handled by the government. The Olympic projects have come in well over budget.

Some feel that the money would have been better spent going to social services, particularly as the city grapples with the effects of the recession.
But now, the protests are beginning to turn violent.

Despite the violence, various activist groups have been leading largely peaceful protests since it was announced that the Games were to held in Vancouver in 2003. Many of these protesters have used viral video to effectively get their message across to a wider audience.

While most of the grievances by anti-Olympics protesters stem from the growing presence of corporate corruption in the Games, the largest resistance has come from indigenous groups in Western Canada, who claim their “stolen land” is being used by the government “for the benefit of corporations, including mining, logging, oil & gas, and ski resorts.” In addition, some activists say that Indigenous peoples suffering social ills caused by the Olympics, such as higher rates of poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, police violence, disease, suicides and violence against women.

Many grassroots activists have been flooding the Internet with videos about their complaints. Many of which are low-budget, but effective in telling their side of the story, like this one and this one. While the Olympic Games will go on in Vancouver and Games officials are not giving in to the complaints, anti-Olympic digital activism has allowed a point of view that would otherwise not get covered in the mainstream media.

I came upon a article today about a website that is keeping an eye on Obama’s greatest hits and misses in the last 12 months.

From Boston Metro:

Two New Yorkers who volunteered for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign wanted to make sure he kept his election promises. So, they created a Web site encouraging people to rate Obama on everything from his Cabinet members to weekly radio addresses.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as Netflix,” said Chirag Patel, 34, co-founder of the TabsonObama.org. “We hope it promotes transparency, accountability and civic engagement.” He also wants to provide “deeper insights than standard Gallup polls.”

Developed by a bunch of like-minded, tech-head liberals in Patel’s Brooklyn, N.Y., loft, the site shows low favorability for the president. In fact, ex-Bush appointee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is the most popular…

…How does Patel rate Obama, on a scale of one to five? He’s disappointed in the lack of a public option in health care reform, campaign finance reform and troop withdrawal from Iraq. “I might give him a three … or maybe a two and a half.”

Between the ongoing health reform debacle, Martha Coakley’s Senate defeat, the escalation in Iraq, the Nobel Peace Prize and Chicago Olympics fails, we give him a 3.

How do you rate President Obama so far?