Feature Online Dialogue: Using Mobile Phones for Action
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Using Mobiles | SMS (Short Message Service)
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Intro
Mobile technology is being used by citizens all over the world as the most affordable and massively adopted piece of technology. How can we harness this technology for advancing human rights and civil society participation?
Our outstanding resource practitioners for the November-December tactical discussion shared and discussed many ideas for "Using Mobile Phones for Action". You can still contribute your ideas, questions and experiences!
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Philippe Duhamel - in his interTactica blog - Harnessing new technology for new tactics provides some great examples to get our creative ideas flowing.
- Sending out an SMS -- Supporting human rights work and activism with text messaging, or SMS - Short Messaging Service - functionality
- Organizing demonstrations -- Such as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine
- Coup de text -- Like ousting a president, it happened in the Philippines
- Protest Ringtones -- Highlighting corruption, it's being used in the Philippines
Links from the dicussion:
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Using mobile phone to document human rights abuses
The availability of the General Packet Radio System (GPRS) and the upgraded Edge ((3G) has enabled mobile users to send multimedia messages via the mobile phone and hence expanding the people's participation in national debate.
Through the Africa Interactive's voice of Africa project, citizen media has become a reality in holding government accountable on issues of governance, human rights and the very furture of a peaceful transition in Kenya and Africa in general.
With the opening of bureaues in Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa is evident of the commitment to uphold interactive participation by citizens in building democratic institutions that respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.
The capturing on phone video of mob that assaulted a suspected criminal suspect in full view of the police along the streets of Nairobi for allegedly attempting to steal a side mirror from a motor vehicle, exposed the ineptness of the police to uphold the rule of law and provide security.
However, this efforts are often hindered by the low GPRS connectivity where mobilephone networks have not been installed. At least a huge population of the rural inhabitants are excluded in the full enjoyment of this service.
Another issue that makes this exercise difficult is the government policy on service providers who then makes its difficult for mobile users.
Despite this obstacles, and insensitivity by governments on citizen media the use of mobile phones as a tool of championing advocacy journalism and community mobilization in Kenya and Africa in general has succeded.
In the case of Zimbabwe where we have a mobilephone reporter, we have succeded in documenting human rights violations perpetuated by the police aganist the opposition and human rights activists.
In Kenya, we are also working with a group of mobile mobile repoters and community communicators to monitor the upcoming general elections. This helps minimize incidents of violence aganist women voters and holds perpetrators of electoral miscounduct accountable.
It also helps to prevents rigging as vote results can be send by SMS from the polling stations immidiately after the counting and hence promting free and fair democratic elections.