The Human Rights Network, a YouTube channel led by Dr. Matthew Daniels, head of the Center for Human Rights and International Affairs at The Institute of World Politics, has reached over 30 million views and currently has over 50,000 subscribers.
This news is significant, as the Human Rights Network promotes education about universal human rights principles in a way that has been proven effective in a recent study by the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute.
Specifically, the Human Rights Network provides videos “created by international students to inspire minds with the universal rights that give freedom and are the birthright of all humanity.” Many of the videos are short commentaries on movies, highlighting violations of human rights with themes such as political oppression, racial discrimination, human trafficking, and more; these movies range from classic kids’ movies to adult movies with serious content.
Meanwhile, the Center for Human Rights and International Affairs is focused on the study of fundamental inalienable rights and of how these rights are spread throughout the world and impact the world, while being particularly interested in the role that digital media can play to spread the message and impact of these rights.
IWP interns with the Center have created videos for the Human Rights Network as a practicum project to explore these issues. Some of these recent videos cover the human rights topic of racial discrimination. To name a few, IWP interns have created reviews of The Help, Amistad, and The Revenant.
With continuing growth in the number of viewers, the Human Rights Network will be able to further spread knowledge of fundamental human rights and their importance in our world.