Citizens can be afraid to voice their opinion. This may result from fear of some kind of retaliation against them. The Campaign of Darkness for Light mobilized 30 million people in Turkey. They mobilized people to flick their lights on and off as a public demonstration against government corruption. Corruption had been an open secret and yet the public felt apathetic and powerless to end it. With many citizens afraid to participate in political action, organizations needed a tactic of low personal risk. They needed a tactic that would help overcome the sense of isolation that comes with fear. The Campaign gave people an easy and no-risk action everyone could take. People could simply turning off their lights at the same time each evening. This showed their collective displeasure with the lack of concerted action against corruption.
Organizing the Campaign
The campaign was originally conceived in response to a scandal. The scandal revealed the extensive connections between government officials and organized crime.
In the month prior to the campaign event, organizers launched a massive publicity campaign. They formed alliances with grassroots organizations and unions. They asked them to fax petitions and information on the protest campaign to their members. Those members in turn would send the fax on to their friends and contacts. They also enlisted columnists, radio personalities and TV broadcasters to post public reminders.
Impact of Mass Public Disruption
The participation of large numbers of people in the campaign provided a measure of safety. It also encouraged more and more people — ultimately millions — to become involved.
Organizers initially proposed that citizens turn off their lights for one minute each night. People then began to blink their lights on and off. By the second week, communities began to improvise. Communities initiated different street actions, including banging pots and pans. By the time organizers halted the action, the campaign had gone on for more than a month.
Although some of the officials implicated in the scandal remained in parliament. There has been a great deal of political and legal change since the campaign. This included:
- the trial of several businessmen, police, military personnel and mafia leaders
- campaigns within parliament against corruption, and
- replacement of many politicians who failed to deal with state corruption.
Campaign organizers were not able to revive this tactic on the same scale just months later. This was despite the existence of many of the same issues and mechanisms.
For more information on this tactic, read our in-depth case study and view this video – 1 Dakika Karanlık / 1 Minute Darkness.
Simple actions can be highly effective, encouraging broad participation with minimal effort. The tactic of flicking lights in Turkey, like honking car horns in Zambia or banging pots in Chile, demonstrates how low-risk, easily replicable actions can make public dissent visible. These tactics help break the isolation created by fear, showing that many share the same concerns. While simple, such actions build solidarity and open new political spaces for collective action. However, maintaining momentum is challenging; the initial success often can't be repeated at the same scale. For these tactics to be impactful, they must immediately drive the movement forward and translate into broader change.
New Tactics in Human Rights does not advocate for or endorse specific tactics, policies or issues.
