Underwear goes grassroots

Posted April 27th, 2009 at 11:09 am by Ebele Okobi-Harris, Yahoo! Business & Human Rights

 10 Comments / Filed in: Conferences/Events

I’d like to ask a personal question. So lean in. Closer. How hard is your underwear working?

While you’re thinking that over, I would love to introduce you to Gaurav Mishra, the Yahoo! Human Rights Fellow in International Values, Communications, Technology and Global Internet at Georgetown University.

As the Yahoo! Human Rights Fellow, Gaurav leads research on social media and mobile use in India and China and teaches a graduate course on “Social Media in Business, Development and Government.” Gaurav is on sabbatical from India’s Tata Motors, where he is Assistant General Manager with a focus on digital marketing. He also writes Gauravonomics, a popular blog on how social media and mobile technologies are changing media, business, development and government, particularly in emerging economies.

Gaurav recently came to campus to speak about his research. Some highlights:

• Even where Internet content is controlled, creative people find ways to communicate. In China, Internet users resort to images and code words to elude censorship. For example, “harmonized” was a euphemism for “my blog got censored.” When the term was banned, intrepid writers wrote about “river crab,” which sounds similar to harmonious in Mandarin. Later the meme became photos of a naked man doing pushups.
• The Internet can be a powerful tool to support free expression and social change. In India, four young women used the Internet to launch the “Pink Chaddi Campaign,” a peaceful protest against violent conservatives’ plans to disrupt Valentine’s Day by assaulting “pub-going, loose and forward” women. The campaign called for women to shame the would-be perpetrators by sending pink panties to their homes and offices. The overwhelming response resulted in more than 270 blog links; a Facebook group with more than 48,000 members, 350 discussion topics and more than 6,750 wall posts; and hundreds of pink panties sent. The campaign brought worldwide attention to the issue, mobilized thousands of young women, and the group threatening the violent action was preventively detained on Valentine’s Day.

Gaurav’s talk was particularly timely, as Yahoo! continues to explore how we promote free expression for our users around the world. Yahoo!’s Business & Human Rights Program will be hosting a Business & Human Rights Summit in Sunnyvale on May 5 (space is limited; RSVP required). The Summit will focus on how technology and the Internet facilitate freedom of expression, with a focus upon innovative approaches to addressing government challenges. Our keynote speaker is Ory Okolloh, the Exective Director of Ushahidi, the crowdsourcing platform for crisis situations developed in Kenya and used in the Congo, Gaza and the 2009 elections in India. We’ll have panels about citizen and cyber journalism (featuring journalists/bloggers from around the world) and about the Global Network Initiative, a global effort co-founded by Yahoo! to address threats to privacy and free expression in the Internet, communications and technology sector.

So… now that you know that even a pair of underwear can be a powerful tool for social change, what’s your big idea?

Here’s my interview with Gaurav from his recent visit:

Ebele Okobi-Harris
Director, Yahoo! Business & Human Rights

Tagged: human rights, public policy

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10 Comments Add your own

Ena Harris | April 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

I really learned a lot about how human rights and the internet are connected.
Ebele, this is quite an informative interview. The panties threw me off track for a minute but believe me they got my attention. I wanted to read what they had to do with Yahoo. You might have added a Jimmy Lewis blues song with those. You get a 5 for attention grabbing.:-)

Bea Jett | April 28th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Thanks for posting the interview. We are very isolated in the U.S. and do not hear or read enough about what is going on globally, although somethings are affecting us directly.

Yolanda Jenkins | April 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

It is fascinating to find out the various ways the Internet has become one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, tool worldwide for communication, information, innovation and real social change. It was evident, the Internet revolutionized the political process in the U.S. and your blog documents how it is mobilizing people across the world. Thanks for sharing this information.

Yolanda Jenkins

Sheila Phillips | April 29th, 2009 at 10:56 pm

Nice interview, very interesting information on how the internet can be to used to help people become more aware of social issues. The pink panties was certainly an attention grabber.

Nicole Ennix | May 1st, 2009 at 7:54 am

Is anyone disturbed by the panties in the ad? I just don’t think the granny panties send the right message. I think a thong would have sent a stronger message. A thong says, “I am an independent woman and I don’t care if there is a string up my butt and if I want to celebrate Valentines Day or any other day and go to a pub or any place else for that matter, it is my prerogative to do so and not you or anyone else is going to tell me what I can and cannot do!!!” I applaud these ladies for their effort, but they could use a little marketing help from a certain expert marketer that used to work for Nike. Those panties in the ad are simply heinous! But on a more serious note, I thought it was a great article on how the internet (and surprisingly panties) can be used regarding bringing attention to human rights and women’s issues. Ebele, Yahoo is lucky to have such a bright and creative shining star who can make even pink panties relevant to a serious issue.

J. Hardy | May 1st, 2009 at 12:59 pm

With all the negative press that surrounds the internet at times, its great to hear that it is also fostering
Social change. Not so sure about the ‘huge pink panties’…but I certainly appreciate the effort. :-)
Great article Ebele!

haşere ilaçlama | May 12th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

wow, great job on the real estate part! kudos to the team. Thank You

Bruno | May 14th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

I met some of my old pals from the university of Port harcourt at the Nigerians Graduates Web Community! (NigeriaAlumni.com). That was so awesome!

Medyum | June 2nd, 2009 at 2:45 am

Thanks for posting the interview. We are very isolated in the U.S. and do not hear or read enough about what is going on globally, although somethings are affecting us directly.

hikaye | July 7th, 2009 at 7:58 am

I really learned a lot about how human rights and the internet are connected.
Ebele, this is quite an informative interview. The panties threw me off track for a minute but believe me they got my attention. I wanted to read what they had to do with Yahoo. You might have added a Jimmy Lewis blues song with those. You get a 5 for attention grabbing.:-)