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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/

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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 provides about the South. Therefore, they are shaped as

sources of information or producers of information, given their knowledge on the ground,

their specialisation and the body of experts that generally support their work. However,

this is not yet the case, because there is often a misperception in development, human

rights and environmental NGOs. On the one hand, forgetting or ignoring what the media

are, wanting them to adapt to the needs of these organisations; and on the other hand,

limiting their communication activity to fundraising.

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

2.1. Approaching communication for development, human rights and

the environment

The academic literature on communication for development, communication for human

rights and communication for the environment (COMDEDEHUMA, from now on) is

extensive when it considers the three strands separately, but scarce when it must

consider the common elements of what this author considers COMDEDEHUMA.

The three spaces mentioned above, separately, are identified with the Millennium Goals,

in a way that is equivalent to what this COMDEDEHUMA identifies with the SDGs.

It would therefore be the communication that is developed to denounce, investigate and

report on the problems, and to promote communicative solutions to the challenges posed

by the 17 SDGs and their 169 targets, from non-governmental organisations,

international bodies and the media.

One of the key elements of this discipline, though not the only one, is to find out how

journalism is linked to development, human rights and the environment. To know what

it does not yet contribute, what it can realistically contribute, and whether it is possible

that the current negative balance, in which misinformation wins, can change at some

point.

Non-governmental organisations, international organisations (especially those belonging

to the United Nations) and the media complete the triangle of entities that lead

COMDEDEHUMA's work on a global scale.

We can affirm that this communication work is premeditated when the final objective is

to make a contribution through communication and information to improve the living

conditions of humanity. NGOs, international organisations and some media (small and

specialised in these issues) are generally the protagonists of this premeditated

contribution. Such a contribution is unpremeditated when, despite reporting on the three

issues in question, it has other objectives as its main purpose, generally economic and

corporate profit. Most of the major generalist media are at the forefront of these

contributions.

Since Sean MacBride in the 1970s spearheaded the Theories of Information Dependency,

especially between 1977 and 1980 at the International Commission for the Study of

Communication Problems, many years have passed, but little real change has come about

in the North-South communication imbalance through the mainstream media (MacBride,

1980).

The introduction of social media into the equation changes the final result in two ways:

a) the first is that there are many, many more sources of information thanks to social

media; b) the second is that young audiences use social media on a massive scale, not

using the general media for information. The Mac Bride Report is still valid today in terms

of the description of the problem caused by these generalist media, as there is still a

clear inequality of information flows and an image promoted by these media from the

North, which do not provide sufficient elements to have complete information, neither

from the North nor from the South.

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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

The general media expose realities that are too partial, marked by spectacle and by the

supposed interest of the audience, which the media themselves decide, where

explanations and analysis are difficult to find.

UNESCO set a goal in the field of communication for development, which the author of

this research believes can be extrapolated to COMDEDEHUMA, making this goal broader,

more realistic and more ambitious:

To encourage the free flow of information at the national and international

levels; to promote the widest and most balanced dissemination of information

without hindrance to freedom of expression; and to develop all appropriate

means to strengthen communication capacities in developing countries in

order to increase their participation in the communication process (UNESCO,

1989).

However, communication applied to development, the environment and human rights

has been gaining ground in Spain since the 1990s, above all through the work carried

out by NGOs and some media professionals. Even so, this discipline can be considered

the "poor sister" within development studies in our country, if we take into account the

economic, human and material resources dedicated to it in comparison with other

disciplines, both at governmental and non-governmental level.

The paradox is that the positive results obtained by international organisations based in

Spain, non-governmental organisations or Spanish governmental entities dedicated to

development, are presented with interest by those in charge, through their

communications departments, in order to obtain maximum economic and image benefits.

In the field of the environment and human rights, the issue has been dealt with in a

different way, with NGOs dedicated to these issues giving high importance to their

communication areas, as from the beginning they saw that their presence in the media

through journalistic materials was fundamental, as well as raising awareness in society

through campaigns, currently with social networks as the main protagonists. Some

examples are Greenpeace and Amnesty International, organisations that are already a

point of reference for the media, which give them important spaces both when they

present reports and specific investigations, as well as on a day-to-day basis.

The definitions of communication for development put forward by authors such as Javier

Erro and Begoña Ballesteros should be noted at this point. Erro starts from the idea of a

communicational perspective in which communication, education and culture converge,

understanding communication itself 'as development', where NGOs should not only

inform about the problems of the South, but also educate in order to promote citizen

decision-making. In Erro's vision, it is necessary to evolve to a concept of communication

that transcends information - the transmission of data - to recover the essence of

communicating, "The communicative is associated with teaching, sharing, living,

recognising, meeting and learning with the other. It is a matter of accompanying learning,

of assuming that the other is not only a destination point, but above all a meeting point"

(Erro, 2002: 28).

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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

The author of this research agrees with Erro on the need for communication to transcend

information, but not only in the field of development, but also in the field of human rights

and the environment, thus being in line with the SDGs.

This idea is complemented by the definition of Ballesteros, for whom communication for

development refers to "recourse to a horizontal and participative communicative

conception that permeates and cross-cuts a development process regardless of whether

or not communication tools, technologies and media are used during it" (Ballesteros,

2005).

Once again, the author of this research dares to affirm that this conception can be

extrapolated to the field of human rights and the environment. He concludes at this point

that the communication to which he refers must try to produce a democratic and

participatory relationship, being itself a democratic and participatory process, making

these two values not only the final goal but also the path to be followed in order to reach

it.

3. Amnesty international and social media as tools for communicating

human rights

In its own words, "Amnesty International is a global, independent organisation of more

than 10 million people who take action against injustice by defending human rights

around the world" (Amnesty International, 2021).

In order to carry out this task, the use of social networks has become essential in this

organisation. In this section we are going to analyse which social networks are most used

by the Spanish Section of Amnesty International in its global work, what they are looking

for, what results they are getting, and how all this affects the general work of

communicating human rights that the organisation carries out.

It should be specified that there is careful verification of the information Amnesty

International transmits on social networks, for the organisation it is essential to be

credible and trustworthy.

To enhance these good practices, the organisation has implemented tools and spaces

such as the Citizen Evidence Lab, which "...was originally created as a space to keep

abreast of the best innovations by sharing advice, tools and good practices on disciplines

such as video verification, remote sensing and weapons analysis" (Amnesty

International, 2019).

We can consider "citizen evidence" to be materials that show, in any format, human

rights violations in the world, collected by people who are not engaged in professional

research in this field. These materials, which usually provide many details of the human

rights violations they document, are disseminated through social networks, which is

precisely why it is important to ensure that they are not sources of disinformation.

The content of this section arises from the analysis of the information obtained in the interviews conducted

by the author with Ángel Gonzalo, media officer of Amnesty International, Spanish Section, on 9 and 12

February 2021; and from the verification of the data obtained on the website of the organisation:

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

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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

This Citizen Evidence Lab helps to maintain verification of what it disseminates on

networks:

The site includes guides to tools and techniques for verifying publicly available

video and images, and highlights Amnesty International case studies that

show how methodologies such as remote image sensing and weapons analysis

can reveal human rights abuses. It also details and builds on innovative

projects involving thousands of volunteers to sift through data on a massive

scale. There are tutorials on techniques such as reverse image searching,

preserving data from social media to avoid losing it, and using other data

sources - such as satellite imagery - to verify when and where events took

place (Amnesty International, 2019).

Building on this initiative, Amnesty International launched the Digital Verification Corps

(DVC) in 2016, one of whose objectives is to "collate and verify the overwhelming amount

of digital content that exists in the world today, some of which depicts human rights

abuses" (Dubberley, 2019).

The DVC is made up of six universities: University of California, Berkeley; Cambridge;

Essex; Hong Kong; Pretoria; and Toronto. They train student volunteers to verify videos

and photos of possible human rights violations around the world. The results support

Amnesty International's research teams to do rigorous and verified work on social media

(Dubberley, 2019).

Indeed, in the words of DVC director Sam Dubberley:

When uncomfortable truths lead public authorities to cry 'fake news', or when

content posted on social media claims to show something it does not, we are

prepared to respond based on rigorous and methodical methods of

investigation and verification (Amnesty International, 2018).

It is this verification work that gives exceptional value to the materials disseminated on

the social networks by this NGO, a work that is not normally known, not seen, and which

adds great value to the organisation's image, to its credibility as a reliable source.

3.1. Social networking teams

The social media area is made up of a full-time community manager and a group of 12

support staff, who are volunteers. It is integrated into communication technology, which

is managed by a webmaster, who is hierarchically higher up the hierarchy and is also the

person responsible for the website. Therefore, the person responsible for social media is

accountable to the webmaster; and the webmaster is accountable to the head of the

Communication Department.

Social Networking also has a marketing support person, due to the large number of cyber

actions that the organisation carries out on the Internet, for example, collecting

signatures or requests for donations; this person is specialised in this type of action, and

has a part-time contract.

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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

Another person is added to the team, also on a part-time basis, who liaises with the

campaigns area, giving it the activist focus that is necessary in all the organisation's

activity according to its objectives.

The person responsible for social networks is a journalist and develops content for all the

social networks in which the organisation is present. He or she writes threads for Twitter,

makes Stories for Instagram, makes videos for Tik Tok, or develops general ideas that

can be applied to all the networks by adapting the language. She then shares them with

the person who is the liaison with campaigns, to give them the right tone if they intend

to mobilise or carry out activist actions. In the case of a donation request, linked to one

of these actions, it is coordinated with the marketing liaison person.

We can see how the strength of the organisation's social media area is really the team

made up of its three members, who combine the generation of ideas, their translation

into a type of material or language appropriate to the specific network they use, and the

achievement of the objective set. Practically all their actions coordinate the three areas.

A concrete example of this type of work is that carried out for the release of Loujain al

Hathloul, a Saudi Arabian activist who had been imprisoned for three years for defending

women's rights. Amnesty International campaigned for 3 years, developing several

phases: a) the first was to call for her release as soon as they learned of her

imprisonment, in traditional or general media; b) the same work is done on social

networks, taking advantage of the latter to mobilise the population; c) the marketing

team enters into the equation. All this is done in a coordinated way: traditional or

generalist press, social networks and marketing; all at the same time, at different times,

with the work teams coordinated. Social media becomes a spearhead.

3.2. Workload of the social media area

The organisation can run at least one campaign per week per year, with some weeks

having two. They manage an average of 70 campaigns per year. They do not conceive

of any campaign that is not supported by the social media area. And there is no social

network in which they do not have a presence. Adding all the social networks together,

they have more than one million followers.

They make use of the data of people who have already expressed interest in the

organisation's content and given their permission to do so. In addition to this, they use

the database of people who have signed a cyber action, which means they have more

than 10 million people in Spain alone.

When someone signs up in support of a campaign, their details are stored and as soon

as there is a human rights violation similar to the one that a person has signed up for

before, that person or group is approached. That work is done by email, or by social

media. For example, if they are journalists, they use Twitter, which is the network that

gives them the best results with that professional group; if they target the general public,

they use Facebook; if the segment is a younger audience, they use Instagram or Tik Tok.

They work according to the population group, the professional group and the objective

they have set.

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

3.3. Interaction with users

The interaction of social media users with the organisation reaches high volumes. The

job of the person responsible for networks is not only to inform or create content; 50%

of their time is dedicated to responding to comments, requests, mentions, etc. According

to the organisation's code of conduct, they do not respond to insults or disqualifications.

They do respond to negative opinions, because they consider that constructive criticism

is useful for the organisation. On some occasions they have encountered 40,000 opinions

against them, many of which were trolls or haters. The campaign by the Spanish section

of Amnesty International for the release of "the Jordis" in Catalonia is a clear example of

this. When they consider that there is a "popular outcry" against one of their campaigns,

they have to respond.

Among other things, this is why the social media person works full time, with his two

part-time support staff, because he spends much of his time responding to and

interacting with network users and distributing the work.

Sometimes there are media appeals to Amnesty International that come through social

media, especially Twitter, as it is a common tool for the journalistic profession. Journalists

often seem to find it more difficult to phone the media officer, and find it easier to send

a tweet, or a DM (direct message) on Instagram, or contact in any other way using a

social network, depending on the day-to-day experience at Amnesty International.

3.4. Usefulness of networks

The organisation is finding the greatest use of the networks to carry out mobilisation

actions and achieve great results. The latest example is the campaign for the non-

imprisonment of Pablo Hasel, in which in one day they collected 40,000 signatures, the

vast majority through social networks, and they only launched a Twitter thread. Users

can sign in support of any campaign using any network, that's what the Webmaster is

there for, the person who has the complete technological structure, and has done the

relevant programming so that these signatures can be collected from any social network,

and so that the data is interconnected.

Everything is done through Amnesty International's own software, specifically designed

by a company to meet the organisation's needs. It is also used, by crossing the relevant

data, to send press releases by the media officer, automating the change of format by

the aforementioned software, for any social network. If when they upload a news item

to the organisation's website, they want to share it on Twitter, Instagram or WhatsApp,

there is an automatic conversion for these networks. The economic investment made by

the organisation in this software allows them to have the capacity to collect, for example,

those 40,000 signatures in one day, with the localisation of the relevant data.

They also use it in what they call "urgent actions", through which they mobilise a large

number of people in a very short time. They could generate a WhatsApp message to

gather 40,000 people at a specific point. And the computer system could support many,

many more.

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

The record number of signatures collected by the Spanish Section of Amnesty

International is 9,600,000 in the case of Amina Lawal in 2003, when this tool did not

exist. Its development has been progressive, it is 6 years old, and has permanent

updates; the tool is the Spanish Section's own. But there is a system that allows them

to share technical knowledge which is also permanent, both with the International

Secretariat of Amnesty International (based in London) and with other national sections

in different countries.

It is impossible for Amnesty International to run a campaign without social media, and

some are even only activated through social media. The reason is that it works best for

them. Nigerian singer-songwriter Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, wrote a song in February

2020 and shared it via WhatsApp; after being arrested and tried, he was sentenced to

hang for blasphemy because, according to Islamic law, it contained derogatory comments

about the Prophet Muhammad. Fear of Boko Haram was in the background. On 21

January, an Appeals Commission ordered the case to be reheard before a different judge

because of a lack of legal representation throughout the previous trial. This was a triumph

for Amnesty International, although it continues to fight for his final release. A triumph

that was achieved exclusively using social networks, where the campaigns of people with

names and surnames, specific cases (and general thematic causes), have a lot of impact,

for this case they have 200,000 signatures. It was a case in which the organisation was

not successful in the media, where Amnesty International's reports are more popular.

The first death sentence handed down through Zoom occurred during the COVID-19

pandemic in Singapore. On 20 May 2020, a spokesperson for the Singapore High Court

confirmed that a Malaysian man had been sentenced to death after being convicted of

drug trafficking charges. The decision was delivered "by video conference" on Friday 15

May 2020. The convicted man's lawyer confirmed that this sentencing hearing was held

via the Zoom platform. The difficulty for the media to cover the situation was enormous,

but in networks it was the opposite for this NGO. They used Twitter to tell the story and

connected with people who, for the needs of their work, used Zoom on a daily basis,

making them realise that the death sentence could also be carried out on that platform.

This was another campaign they launched solely on social media.

Amnesty International also uses clickbait, which according to Ana Isabel Sordo is "... a

writing technique that consists of creating sensational headlines and descriptions in a

link. Its purpose is to attract visitors and incite them to click to open that content" (Sordo,

2021).

An interview can be done by the media relations team and passed on to the person

responsible for social media to adapt it to this tool. This ensures that the interview is

disseminated in a different way, adapted to a different format (for example, to the web,

WhatsApp and Telegram), and that it has a great impact on a user public that either only

or mostly uses social networks, to the detriment of traditional media.

3.5. Distribution of user public

Facebook is where they have the most users. But for mobilisation actions, the most

important for them is Twitter, although Instagram is gaining ground every month. All this

forces them to change their formats.

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

The Youtube channel is the one that is working the least for the organisation. When they

do make live connections, each public event is streamed via Facebook Live, which is what

gives them the most followers. This reconfirms that: a) to access a more general

audience, Facebook is their main tool; b) Twitter for journalists, opinion leaders and

authorities; c) younger users through Instagram and Tik Tok.

The support volunteers are constantly coordinated and are located in many parts of

Spain. Each territorial group has its own network leader, who coordinates with the leader

of the Spanish Section.

Amnesty International's key messages come from the International Secretariat, from its

headquarters in London, and each national section adapts it to its audience. The same

happens from the Spanish section to the country's territories, if necessary. Key

international messages work perfectly for them once they have been adapted, the case

of the Saudi activist Loujain al Hathloul is a clear example of this. When she was released,

the Spanish section found out about it because an investigator in charge of the case

reported the event, and from that moment on, each national section worldwide tells the

story as it will be best received by its national audience.

3.6. Economic impact

The traditional way of recruiting members has disappeared in times of pandemic,

everything has been done through social networks and new technologies. And Amnesty

International has fared much better than expected in a disastrous economic moment, in

which the first thing people do without is non-essential expenses, and being a member

of an NGO, for many people, can be considered a dispensable expense. They currently

have 90,000 members compared to 17,000 in 2003, which shows the growth in

membership driven by the networks. The indicators of the objectives to be achieved

through social networks can be swept up in one day with 40,000 signatures, and those

of media impact also through Twitter with 400 in the same 24 hours.

Their marketing experts assure them that social media works better than membership

and street donations did: in terms of impact and results, membership growth and one-

off donations.

4. Analysis of the use of twitter, facebook and instagram by amnesty

international's spanish section

Within the framework of the project "International information as a tool for job placement

for students of International Relations", approved in the Innova-Docencia 20-21 call for

proposals, for which the author of this research is responsible, and whose funding entity

is the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), an analysis exercise was carried out on

three of the social networks used by the Spanish Section of Amnesty International as

part of its communication strategy.

The exercise was designed by the author, and the students of group 4.8. of the subject

"International Information and Communication" of the Degree in International Relations

of the UCM participated, especially in the collection of information. Its objective was to

find out how this organisation dedicated to Human Rights uses social networks to achieve

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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

its objectives as an entity. The criteria used for the analysis were oriented towards the

general metrics of the profile to know its reach (number of followers, number of

publications and frequency of publication), the type of information published (complaints,

campaigns, life stories, etc.) and the positive interactions (support) and/or negative

interactions (criticism or insults, for example) generated in these forums based on the

information published. The period analysed was from 1 to 15 January 2021.

The three social networks were: Twitter (@amnistiaespana), Facebook

(https://www.facebook.com/amnistia.internacional.espana) and Instragram

(@amnistiaespana).

4.1. Facebook

Amnesty International's Facebook profile was created on 22 May 2009, has more than

430,000 followers (specifically, as of 20 January 2021 at 13:47, 436,818 people like the

page and 430,669 followers). They publish content on a daily basis, with two posts per

day in the period analysed. The Facebook page provides direct access links to their other

platforms: website, Twitter and Instagram, as well as to their telephone number and

email, offering an immediate point of contact from this social network to attract potential

members and/or people interested in the activity they carry out. This, added to the fact

that donations can be made to the organisation from the Facebook profile itself,

demonstrates how important it is for Amnesty International to generate a channel for the

'call to action', with the aim of taking advantage of the opportunity of a single click in the

"moments of truth" with the public interested in Human Rights and thus reducing the risk

of abandonment of possible donations.

Despite the high number of followers (even more so if we compare it with other related

organisations such as Human Rights Watch Spain or Transparency International Spain),

the interaction received by its publications is low, very few reach 1,000 reactions, with

the most interaction being those aimed at more "controversial" issues such as the death

penalty, abortion, gender or the LGBTIQ community. Most publications consist of an

image or video and an explanatory text. In other cases, only an image and a strong

sentence appear, as in their latest post, in which they announce that the 'tampon tax'

has been eliminated in the UK with an image and add: "Access to tampons is a right. Full

stop. In addition, almost all of them are accompanied by a hyperlink to their official

website where more information can be accessed, in other cases they also use direct

links to signature campaigns.

The denunciation of human rights violations, through information relating to specific

situations or more structural problems, is the aim of a significant number of the

publications analysed on Facebook. For example, there is a post denouncing the

sentencing to death of a Nigerian musician for blasphemy and inviting people to collect

signatures to prevent his death. Beyond the denunciation, a trend identified is the use of

current events to raise awareness, launch campaigns and generate debate on structural

issues relevant to the SDGs and the defence of human rights. As an example, a

publication on 15 January consists of a video of a doctor who walked 17 km to get to the

hospital where he works, thus linking the specific case to the importance of public health.

It thus takes advantage of the opportunity offered by current events by being used to

ask for support/donations to "armour public health" and also to reinforce public pressure

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

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Javier Bernabé Fraguas

on the Spanish authorities to invest more in the public health system. Another example

is the case of a publication in the form of a denunciation and pronouncement calling for

the release of Aleksei Navalny (Russian opposition leader), linking his detention to the

violation of the right to freedom of expression.

This type of publication is combined with others related to major human rights issues,

even if they are not newsworthy, and which articulate Amnesty International's permanent

action; For example campaigns "For a 2021 free of gender violence in all its forms"

through which Amnesty International reiterates its commitment to the eradication of

gender violence, recalling that in 2020 the number of women who died at the hands of

their partners has decreased; or also the collection of signatures to ask for protection for

victims of human trafficking, the defence of the rights of immigrants, campaigns against

the death penalty and executions. There are also campaigns with a strong social

character such as the petition for freedom for women who fight for their social rights in

countries such as Saudi Arabia, for families living in the Cañada Real to have electricity

or campaigns for vaccination against COVID for all groups.

In addition to this content, Facebook stories are only available for 24 hours. In this

alternative mode, they repost content from other people or entities, promote their own

publications and even publish memes related to their complaints.

In terms of the interactions generated, positive interactions outweigh the negative ones,

which may lead one to think that the public that follows this account is close to or

mobilised towards the defence of human rights. The majority of the publications receive

positive interactions, giving the option to 'Like' or sharing the content; for example, the

publication on the 'Human Rights Goals for 2021' has been one of those that has

generated the most interactions on Facebook and communicates the objectives that

Amnesty International proposes for the year. On the contrary, negative interactions are

more present in publications related to more controversial or politicised content, for

example, the collection of signatures for the victims of Francoism and the civil war which

saw a number of negative interactions due to some comments referring to the fact that

this petition for signatures was to reopen wounds in the history of Spain that had 'already'

been closed.

From the publications analysed in the Facebook profile of this NGO, it can be concluded

that communication is closely related to current issues, generating a link between the

major issues and goals of the organisation in favour of the defence of human rights and

the everyday life of citizens. This makes communication very close to the people, aimed

at raising awareness and mobilisation, using a current, concise and accessible narrative.

They avoid long texts that most people would not read. In addition, with some of the

shorter publications, with simple but powerful posters, they manage to make an impact

on users, as well as getting them to share them. This promotes the organisation in a

simple and emotional way.

4.2. Twitter

The Twitter account is under the username @amnistiaespana, and its description includes

the slogan that summarises the organisation's mission: "At Amnesty International we act

for human rights around the world. HT and RT ≠ support". The link in its description

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

redirects to its privacy policy and also to its website. Since its creation on 28 May 2009,

it has posted a total of 28,600 tweets.

The account has been operational since 28 May 2009 and currently has 162.2 thousand

followers. In turn, they follow 17.8 thousand users on Twitter, among them scientific

staff, platforms and NGOs, and personalities and celebrities who support social causes.

The user image is permanent and is a version of their logo in yellow and black on a candle

surrounded by barbed wire; the cover photo changes periodically, during the days

analysed the cover photo corresponded to an image of two grandparents embracing and

a message of encouragement to a group severely affected in the COVID crisis with the

slogan "I ask for dignity for my grandparents".

In terms of the frequency of publication on its wall, we observe that it uploads content

regularly, on a daily basis, and the range of tweets goes from 2 on some days to 8 on

some occasions, which refers to the intense activity that the organisation has on its

Twitter account. The type of information it publishes refers to denunciations of certain

situations of human rights violations, collection of signatures, awareness-raising

campaigns and support for causes, and informative threads. The way it collects this

information is through photographs, videos of testimonies or press articles, in order to

raise public awareness of situations that violate human rights.

It highlights the use of threads based on newspaper articles to explain situations in more

detail. An example of this is the first thread of the year, which includes some of the most

important achievements in terms of human rights in 2020, such as access to education

for Rohingya children in Bangladesh or the new non-discriminatory minimum wage in

Qatar. The publications do not have many interactions, and in most cases the comments

are supportive, although there is also criticism, for example, criticism of the tweet posted

about the celebration of the legalisation of abortion in Argentina as a triumph for human

rights. It is worth mentioning how tweets for the protection of HR usually bring with them

rejection from what we can identify as Internet "trolls", as they rarely have a profile

picture or name.

On the other hand, and no less important, is the use of people's testimonies and

announcements about appearances on issues of special interest that Amnesty

International fights for. Among the most relevant testimonies we find that of Alika, talking

about how she had to be subjected to prostitution; and another, and being of special

interest nowadays after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Filomena storm, the testimony

of Álvaro talking about the precarious situation of health workers having to go to their

place of work with more than 15 cm of snow. On these testimonies, although not all of

them, people who follow his account are urged to join in the collection of signatures to

denounce the situation.

Despite the intense activity on the Twitter account, it seems relevant that explanatory

tweets tend not to be shared (likes and retweets) as much as those that link to an article

or mention specific people. The post with the most interactions of the whole period refers

to the news that Julian Assange will not be extradited to the US, with all replies

celebrating this result.

In the analysis carried out, Amnesty International's capacity to bring up current issues

and connect them with the values and actions that the organisation holds stands out.

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

They have a very collaborative work with other delegations (as can be seen in the

retweets they have, often coming from regional delegations) as well as a very careful

and aesthetic structure.

4.3. Instagram

The Instagram profile has 1,292 posts and 46,000 followers (as of 15 January 2021). Its

profile description reads "More than 50 years working for human rights". Amnesty

International Spain posts daily on current issues around rights campaigning, both in the

form of stories (which it highlights) and posts.

Among the publications analysed, in the "featured stories" section, the content is divided

into three different types. The first refers to quizzes to raise awareness of different topics

among followers and to let them evaluate how much knowledge they have about them;

in the period analysed, quizzes on education, devolution and migration were carried out.

The second type of content is awareness-raising campaigns based on specific cases; for

example, the story highlighted under the slogan "Save Yahaya", which explains the

situation faced by a 22-year-old Nigerian boy sentenced to death in his country for

composing and sharing a song on a WhatsApp group for allegedly defaming the Prophet

Mohammed. The complaint is accompanied by a collection of signatures against this

injustice. Another example of a featured story includes the testimony of three women

victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The publications on the Instagram account include relevant topics in terms of Human

Rights. Not only are specific cases that require intervention by Amnesty International

published, but the organisation also publishes images of denunciation, gratitude,

awareness, reflection or data relevant to Human Rights. Moreover, these publications are

not limited to a specific theme, but cover a wide range of issues from all parts of the

world. The publications are presented in the form of images or videos, either real or

explanatory drawings, with text added in the graphic part or in the caption, usually with

a brief explanation of the issue related to the publication. The information in the

publications has the theme of Human Rights as a common link and the specific topics are

very diverse and in many cases take advantage of current news, such as the defence of

public health, human rights in residences, the necessary reforms for women in Saudi

Arabia and their freedom, climate change, LGBTI pride, denouncing the gag law, refuge

and COVID, attacks against women for defending the Amazon rainforest, etc. It should

be noted that, in addition to publishing videos and striking illustrations to publicise the

story, denounce the situation and make it visible, they also propose solutions and invite

users to be part of them, either by signing petitions or by sharing and commenting on

the content.

The publications on Instagram, although they coincide with the themes used on the other

networks, have a different language in order to relate to a younger audience, regular

users of this social network, and to get them interested in international issues from a

more particular point of view. With this type of communication activity, the organisation

seeks to raise awareness and involve young people in the defence of human rights.

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

5. Conclusions and discussion

Amnesty International's Spanish Section has an imbalance of staff dedicated to traditional

media (3 full-time) compared to those dedicated to social media (1 full-time and 2 part-

time), which opens a debate regarding short-term results and the staff dedicated to

achieving them. However, the organisation's impact on opinion leaders or decision-

makers still comes more widely through its presence in the media. And even this is also

changing (evolving or devolving, depending on how you look at it), since we have seen

leaders using especially Twitter as a communication tool, dismissing the media; or at the

very least, using this social network to respond and/or propose policy initiatives.

The trend is becoming mixed, the media will not be able to continue without the constant

use of social networks such as Twitter, the newsrooms are made up of digital natives

who are setting this trend, and the communication areas of non-governmental

organisations are no different on this point. And therefore, their relationship is marked

by this reality.

It is essential for NGOs to have systems for adapting formats if they want to continue to

produce compelling content that has space and visibility on social networks, in order to

avoid the temptation to produce empty messages.

Based on the data collected and its analysis, it can be concluded that the use of social

networks to communicate human rights is effective and achieves the objectives that the

organisation sets itself, with a high impact, not only in terms of visibility, but also in

terms of attracting economic resources.

The coordination of three areas of work (content building, campaigns and marketing) has

proven to be a key to the success of Amnesty International's Spanish Section's social

media presence. And the design of specific software to cover their communication needs

through the networks has been the other key to achieving efficiency.

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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

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