The two-decade civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was made more possible because of telephone access. Activists would make telephone calls to other leaders across the states and get the latest reports on cases of gross civil rights violations.
The protesters then used the only available tool for distance communication and that was the telephone. Since the year 2015, a rebirth of the civil rights movement was realized and since then, the evolved telephone is playing a crucial role because it can now do more than the 1960s telephone.
The impact of social media
Social media has had one of the greatest impacts on the success of the civil rights movement. With more than two-thirds of Americans owning a smartphone, a simple civil rights call to action can spread across the entire nation like a wildfire. The 20th-century civil rights movements were successful, yet activists relied on a limited landline telephone. Today, activists and achieve much more.
Most social media users are always online chatting with friends, updating their status, and spreading the latest news around. Any news that touches on civil rights violations will be received widely and fast and if a civil rights activist called the people to action, huge masses of people would be in the streets immediately.
Human rights activism and big data
Technology has helped civil rights activists to access real-time data from hundreds of sources, including social media, blogs, media stations, NGOs, government sources, crowdsourcing, and tracking devices.
There is no limit to the amount of data the activists can access and with the help of verified information, they can give warning through key trends analysis to key human rights violations from the police, employers, politicians, and so on.
Read essays about the civil rights movement
Activities of civil rights movements today have been made more effective by the development of mobile and internet technology. A lot of content concerning civil rights has been written by thousands of authors and you can get a lot of civil rights essay examples on Samplius website. Beyond the civil rights essay examples, you can read other essays on nearly every subject that is taught in college. Civil rights movements are just one of them and they are written to help you get ideas and knowledge.
Use of the internet to promote freedom of expression
Globally, over 3 billion people have internet access and almost every home in the US has an internet connection. Citizens use the internet to express their dissatisfaction with the authorities and their feelings on what ought to be done.
The internet provides an important opportunity for citizens whose rights have been violated to express their freedom of opinion and for the activists to reply and advise. The information can be communicated to the concerned authorities for action and if no action is taken, the human rights movement leaders can call massive protests across all states.
Effect of real-time communication
The main trigger of civil rights movements is the violation of human rights by the police. Although some of the violations might be hidden, like those occurring in police custody and prison facilities, most of the violations are no longer hidden.
Police officers shoot innocent citizens in broad daylight, they arrest people without any good reason and others are beaten against the law. When all these incidences are happening, someone with a smartphone nearby can secretly record and share the violation with the public.
Real-time communication will help civil rights activists get real-time information on what’s happening on the ground and they will have genuine reasons to call the public to action.
Involvement of millions of people in mass protests
When more protestors participate in a mass protest organized by civil rights movements, the matter is taken more seriously by the authorities concerned. With the development of mobile phones and the internet, civil rights activists can create groups to help promote their agenda.
Millions of people can respond online and make a resounding statement against the authorities. When the time for street protests comes, technology will help call millions of people into action and their presence will help make a huge difference.
Conclusion
The civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s relied heavily on limited means of communication and passing of information from one end to the other took a long time. Today’s civil rights movements have a greater advantage because they can communicate in real-time through video, chats, emails, social media, and so on. The fast-growing mobile and internet technology has enabled activists to achieve much more within a short time.