Lebanon's digital activism is making serious change, one click at a time

Waste management crisis? 

Non existent personal status laws? 

Unclear censorship laws, problematic penal code laws, and clear abuse of migrant workers?

Unfortunately these are current issues that affect thousands, if not millions of people who live in Lebanon, on a daily basis.

Walk around the streets of Beirut or any other Lebanese city and you are bound to hear the famous 'nothing will change' statement.

This is possibly because for years, every call for change has gone unheard.

But, this has not deterred many activists in the country who are brilliantly using the technological developments of the digital age to motivate people, inspire them and slowly pave the road for desperately needed change.

Here's a closer look at a few of them:

In a stunt that grabbed the attention of millions of people in Lebanon KAFA, a women's rights NGO, put underage/child marriage right under the spotlight.  

The video titled, Say #IDONT to Child Marriage, has garnered over three million views on YouTube and was widely shared on social media in Lebanon since its release in 2015. 

It also caught the attention of several international media outlets who wrote about the campaign, with some even replicating the award-winning social experiment. 

Lebanon's ongoing waste management crisis (only temporary solutions are currently in place), led the founders of Recycle Beirut to build up a social business that aims to encourage people to recycle.  

Their website and social media platforms have been key to the process.  

When 'Abaad' launched a campaign to abolish law 522 (also known as Lebanon's 'rape law') the video that they shared on their social media platforms garnered three million views and sparked outrage among women and activists across the country. 

The campaign eventually led to serious changes, and even though there are still steps to go, it truly highlighted the importance of digital media activism in movements that aim to lay ground for change.

March Lebanon, an NGO fighting censorship in Lebanon was founded in 2011 and soon after launched a virtual museum of censorship.

The platform lists cases of government control and aims to archive them as part of a campaign to defend freedom of speech in the country.

The migrant community center in Beirut use their Facebook page to celebrate diversity and defend migrant workers rights in a country where the kafala/sponsorship law renders them helpless.  

They often unite with 'The Anti-Racism' movement in Lebanon, in online and offline campaigns that call for the abolishment of the 'kafala' system.

In Lebanon this issue is often undermined but is one of the most important as migrant workers still struggle to guarantee even their most basic rights.

Even though one page, video or campaign may not generate immediate results, what every online activist movement reflects today is the ability of the digital age to provide people with the means instigate change. 

It's hard, and painstakingly time-consuming, but given the right tools it becomes more of a possibility.