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Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier

International Relations and Social Networks

July 2021

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNICATING HUMAN RIGHTS. CASE

STUDY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

JAVIER BERNABÉ FRAGUAS

j.bernabe@ucm.es

PhD in International Relations, degree in Information Sciences, both from the Complutense

University of Madrid (UCM); lecturer in the Department of International Relations and Global

History at the UCM (Spain). Specialises thematically in international information and

communication, and geographically in Latin America. Director of the international information and

analysis media Dossier 48. Member of the research groups: "Relaciones Internacionales Siglo

XXI" of the UCM in Spain; and "Comunicación, Periodismo y Sociedad" of the Fundación

Universitaria para el Desarrollo Humano UNINPAHU in Colombia.

Abstract

This text analyses the importance of social networks for one of the most important non-

governmental organisations in the world in terms of the defence of human rights at a global

level, Amnesty International, through its Spanish section.

To do so, it moves from the general to the specific, starting by addressing the importance of

communication as a fundamental element for development cooperation, the defence of human

rights and the environment. It moves on to a general analysis of the social networks used by

Amnesty International, arriving at a specific analysis of their use during the first 15 days of

January 2021 by the organisation. It ends with the drawing of conclusions with the intention

of opening a space for debate, which can increase the growth of knowledge about the

usefulness of social networks and new technologies as key tools for the defence of human

rights.

Keywords

Human Rights, Social Networks, Amnesty International, International Communication.

How to cite this article

Fraguas, Javier Bernabé. Social media as a tool for communicating human rights. Case study:

Amnesty International. Thematic dossier International Relations and Social Networks, July

2021. Consulted [online] on date of last visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT21.5

Article received on January 5, 2021 and accepted for publication on March 17, 2021

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier – International Relations and Social Networks (July 2021), pp. 61-77

Social media as a tool for communicating human rights. Case study: Amnesty International

Javier Bernabé Fraguas

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNICATING HUMAN

RIGHTS. CASE STUDY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

JAVIER BERNABÉ FRAGUAS

1. Introduction

The purpose of this research is to analyse the use of social media as a tool for

communicating human rights, through the case study of Amnesty International

The first objective is to determine the definition of communication for development,

communication for human rights and communication for the environment

(COMDEDEHUMA), as an integrated communication space, in which communication for

human rights is inserted as a protagonist at a global level. The second objective is to find

out how Amnesty International, through its Spanish Section, uses social networks as a

tool for communicating human rights and achieving its objectives. The third objective is

to make visible how this organisation uses these social networks in a concrete way, in a

period of time that covers the first 15 days of January 2021. The fourth objective is to

generate a space for debate and reflection based on conclusions that set out the present

and some future scenarios of the link between social networks and human rights on a

global scale.

This work is part of a qualitative research project and will be undertaken in three phases.

The first of these will establish the background to human rights communication,

explaining a newly created term by the author (COMDEDEHUMA) as a dynamic of

international communication and a line of communication applied to the Sustainable

Development Goals. In the second phase, the use of social networks by Amnesty

International will be analysed, through the work of its Spanish Section; this will be done

in two ways: a) by collecting information directly through interviews with its media

officer; b) through the collection of data on its social network activity during the first 15

days of January.

Methodologically, this research is approached using descriptive and analytical methods,

as their combination provides the necessary explanatory elements to reach the most

pertinent conclusions. The bibliographical review of primary and secondary sources, such

Article translated by Javier Bernabé Fraguas with the supervision of Nina Wormer Nixdorf.

This text is one of the results of the project "La información internacional como herramienta de inserción

laboral para el alumnado de Relaciones Internacionales", approved in the Innova-Docencia 20-21 call for

proposals; project leader: Javier Bernabé Fraguas; funding entity: Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

https://www.es.amnesty.org/

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Thematic dossier – International Relations and Social Networks (July 2021), pp. 61-77

Social media as a tool for communicating human rights. Case study: Amnesty International

Javier Bernabé Fraguas

as reports, documents or research papers published by academic journals and think tanks

has been used, especially for the first part. The interview and data collection have proved

to be instruments that have been presented as great tools for deepening the object of

study. The information obtained has made it possible to capture those aspects which are

most significant and to provide, after their systematisation, an approach to Amnesty

International's work, which will give meaning to the study and will be very relevant for

the analysis and conclusions.

The main premise of this work is based on the following statement: social networks are

an extremely important tool for human rights communication, both in terms of

disseminating messages, interacting with interested people and raising funds for non-

governmental organisations specialising in human rights.

2. Communication by non-governmental organisations at the

international level

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that work in the international arena usually do

so in one of four thematic areas: international development cooperation, humanitarian

action, defence of human rights, and defence of the environment. These four areas form

an area of work within international relations that is led by some very particular actors,

which emerge from organised civil society, and express their concern to improve the

living conditions of the most disadvantaged populations in the international arena. These

manifestations take the form of various types of action on the ground, including

awareness-raising, denunciation, research and applied research, most of the time. The

17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are the roadmap to follow, and their

169 goals are the roads on the map to reach the right destination. Communication is

central to all of this, and NGOs understand that without it they cannot achieve what they

set out to do.

Communication, therefore, stands out as something essential, in all its complexity, from

the relationship with traditional media, to interaction in social networks and the use of

new technologies to communicate, as well as internal communication with partners and

members of the organisations.

Not all the work of these NGOs is carried out in what we might call the countries of the

South, but a very large percentage of it is. And the information that NGOs offer to

international audiences about these countries would constitute a counterweight to the

disinformation that the media