Now more than ever, defending human rights requires action, as we witness an alarming erosion of these fundamental protections across the globe. Fortunately, technology offers powerful tools to help individuals influence policy, mobilize communities and hold those in power accountable. Whether it’s contacting representatives, aligning purchases with values or mapping out strategic advocacy efforts, these five apps make it easier than ever to take meaningful action.
The 5 Calls App
Calling your representatives is one of the best ways to make political impact. The 5 Calls app makes it easy for constituents to do this. The idea is that users spend 5 minutes making 5 calls per day. Simply enter your location, and the app will find your legislators and suggest a list of issues. Choose the issue you care about, and 5 Calls provides a script you can use to call your representatives. They even provide their number directly within the application.
Goods Unite Us
Politicians who are motivated more and more by profit and campaign funding. But we can speak volumes with our purchasing power. The Goods Unite Us app allows you to search brands and their political contributions, helping consumers align their purchases with their values and their vote. Goods Unite Us provides tools for users to reach out to these brands to let them know your thoughts about their political donations.
Resist.Bot
Resistbot turns your texts into faxes, postal mail or an email to your representatives within minutes. First, you connect with Resistbot through Facebook messenger, Telegram, Apple message or SMS texting. You can write letters directly for Resistbot to deliver or ask for trending petitions. Resistbot will ask for your name and mailing address in order to deliver messages that will be tallied by representatives. However, Resistbot doesn’t ever share your data outside of these interactions. Resistbot is a free service, but messaging and data rates may apply.
TurnUp Activism
The app TurnUp Activism is a social change app that helps young activists with voter registration, finding events near them and connecting with people and orgs who share their advocacy interests. Users can track their advocacy impact through their “impact score” and earn badges for their work to strengthen democracy and civic action. Users can phone bank, make postcards, and share resources within the app.
New Tactics’ Tactical Mapping Tool
This website application helps advocates expand their understanding of relationships around an issue. This helps users take more strategic and effective action towards change. Users can hone in on a singular human rights-based issue and create a problem and vision statement for the change they would like to see around this issue. They can diagram the relationships surrounding this issue to see a more clear pathway to change – moving opponents along the spectrum towards allyship.
In a time when civic engagement is more important than ever, these five apps provide practical and effective ways to take action, whether by contacting representatives, making informed consumer choices or strengthening advocacy efforts. But technology is always evolving, and there are countless other tools designed to support activism and social change. What apps would you add to this list? Share your favorites with us to help our community discover new ways to make an impact!
