On December 11, 2014, the Spanish government used its majority to approve the Citizens’ Security Law, better known as the “Gag Law”. A measure criticized by the UN, which restricts citizens’ liberties and criminalizes their freedom of expression.
IDEA
In order to get the law repealed, the citizens’ platform No Somos Delito (We Are Not Crime) wanted to show the entire world the future Spanish citizens will face if the law finally comes into effect on July 1, 2015. To do so, we organized the first Hologram Protest in history. During the two weeks prior to the protest, people from all over the world joined the demonstration by uploading their shouts, their proclamations, and their faces on the hologramsforfreedom.org website. They could also sign our petition on Avaaz.org, where we ask for the repeal of the law. On April 10, 2015, 17857 holograms protested in front of the Spanish Congress, demonstrating, that despite the trammels, they will never be able to silence the voice of the people.
IMPACT
The Gag Law turned into worldwide subject of debate. Media from around the globe echoed the news, denouncing the restriction of liberties the Spanish people will face. Activist from countries who suffer the same lack of liberties asked us to help them replicate the protest.
RESULTS
After two weeks we reached: 400 million in twitter impressions, 800 million global impressions, €16 million in earned media and 330,000 signatures against the law. The protest took place in front of Congress, but the campaign went on inside the Chamber, where its Members requested for the Minister to withdraw the law. No Somos Delito (We Are Not Crime) now has the rest of the parliamentary groups compromise to repeal the law.
