Avaaz

Avaaz Avaaz is a global civic advocacy network founded in 2007 that mobilizes online petitions, grassroots organizing, and digital campaigning on issues including human rights, climate change, public health, and corruption. It operates transnationally across multiple languages and has been associated with high-profile campaigns involving humanitarian crises, environmental policy, and electoral integrity. The organization combines techniques from digital activism, nonprofit advocacy, and international advocacy coalitions.

History

Avaaz was established in 2007 by a group including Tom Perriello, Ricken Patel, and Tom Pravda with initial connections to figures and institutions such as MoveOn, Res Publica, Sunlight Foundation, European Union, United Nations, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam International, Greenpeace, World Health Organization, International Criminal Court, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Cross, Red Crescent, International Rescue Committee, European Commission, NATO, and African Union. Early growth coincided with global events including the Iraq War, Darfur conflict, Global financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Haitian earthquake of 2010, and Arab Spring. The network employed email mobilization and social media strategies influenced by campaigns such as Howard Dean presidential campaign, 2004, Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and digital organizing by MoveOn.org and GetUp!. As it expanded, Avaaz became involved in crisis response, media partnerships, and coalitions with International Crisis Group, Transparency International, Reporters Without Borders, Center for American Progress, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, and various national NGOs.

Organization and Funding

Avaaz describes itself as a member-funded movement with a distributed staff and volunteer base operating from multiple hubs. Its organizational model draws comparisons to Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and other philanthropic actors, while also being scrutinized by watchdogs such as Charity Navigator, GuideStar, Independent Sector, and national regulators like the Internal Revenue Service, Charity Commission for England and Wales, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Canada Revenue Agency, and European Court of Auditors. Reported funding sources and expenditures have been discussed alongside foundations and donors connected to George Soros, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Omidyar Network, Kaiser Family Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and major tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and YouTube in analyses by outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, The Washington Post, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, El País, Al Jazeera, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, and The Atlantic. Organizational governance has been compared to structures at Amnesty International, Greenpeace International, World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Rainforest Alliance, Conservation International, and Natural Resources Defense Council.

Campaigns and Activities

Avaaz has run campaigns on crises and policy issues, often collaborating or confronting actors such as Syrian Civil War, Bashar al-Assad, Boko Haram, ISIS, Ukraine conflict, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Putin's election campaigns, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, NSA, FBI, Interpol, European Parliament, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Senate (United States), Parliament of the United Kingdom, Knesset, Lok Sabha, Australian Parliament, Supreme Court of the United States, International Criminal Court, and treaty negotiations such as the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen Accord, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, World Trade Organization, G20, G7, COP26, COP21, Stockholm Convention, Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, Basel Convention, and public health frameworks involving World Health Organization and GAVI. High-visibility campaigns have targeted actors and events like Sudan conflict, Darfur, Rohingya crisis, Myanmar military junta, Venezuelan crisis, Nicolas Maduro, Hugo Chavez, Haitian cholera outbreak, Zika virus epidemic, Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and climate events such as Hurricane Katrina, Typhoon Haiyan, and California wildfires. Tactics include online petitions, email appeals, targeted advertising on platforms like Facebook, Google Ads, coordinated protests near institutions such as United Nations Headquarters, European Commission, White House, Downing Street, and legal petitions to bodies like International Court of Justice.

Impact and Criticism

Supporters cite measurable outcomes in policy shifts, fundraising for humanitarian relief, and influencing public debate alongside organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, UNICEF, Save the Children, Oxfam International, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. Critics and analysts from The New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Reuters, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Intercept, ProPublica, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Chatham House, RAND Corporation, Cato Institute, and academic journals in Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Stanford University, London School of Economics, Columbia University, and Princeton University have questioned effectiveness, transparency, and potential influence by major donors. Debates have referenced instances of contested campaigns, data privacy concerns involving platforms such as Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, AggregateIQ, Google, and issues of digital surveillance with NSA, GCHQ, Five Eyes, and law enforcement agencies. Media scrutiny has included investigations into email sourcing, advertising buys, and the balance between grassroots membership and professional staff similar to critiques leveled at MoveOn.org, Change.org, GetUp!, and Care2.

Legal and Political Challenges

Avaaz has faced legal and political scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions, involving interactions with regulatory bodies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Charity Commission for England and Wales, Information Commissioner's Office, Federal Election Commission, European Court of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, and national courts in countries including United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, and China. Cases and controversies have intersected with laws and norms around electoral campaigning, data protection regimes like the General Data Protection Regulation, libel and defamation law, counterterrorism legislation, and emergency powers invoked during pandemics such as policies by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and national public health agencies. Political pushback has come from administrations and parties including Donald Trump, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, Jair Bolsonaro, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Benjamin Netanyahu, and others who have been subjects or critics of campaigns.

Category:International non-governmental organizations