In the digital era, activism has turned into clicktivism and Ricken Patel, founder of Avaaz.org has capitalized on the globalization of the world through the internet. Avaaz claims to be a “world in action” that brings the campaigning community together by empowering people through “decision-making worldwide”.
Avaaz has given a “voice” to those who do not want to join in actually protesting injustice in the world, but would rather organize within the comfort of their own home with online petitions that allegedly pressure elected officials are governments; similar to other websites like ResPublica, GetUp! and MoveOn.org.
Avaaz has become so influential that they were involved in disseminating propaganda with the proxy war in Syria. In fact, Avaaz has been supportive of the manufactured uprising in Syria that has made the Free Syrian Army (FSA) so successful.
Alice Jay, campaign director for Avaaz, claims that the Houla massacre was the work of the Syrian government by stating:
“Dozens of children lie covered with blood, their faces show the fear they felt before death, and their innocent lifeless bodies reveal an unspeakable massacre. These children were slaughtered by men under strict orders to sow terror. Yet all the diplomats have come up with so far is a few UN monitors ‘observing’ the violence. Now, governments across the world are expelling Syrian ambassadors, but unless we demand strong action on the ground, they will settle for these diplomatic half-measures.”