Flash Drives For Freedom has been voted the Best Cause-Related Campaign in the People’s Voice category of the 24th annual Webby Awards.
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996, this year’s Webby Awards received nearly 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 70 countries worldwide, and more than 600,000 voters took part in selecting the winners.
“Flash Drives For Freedom has set the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said Claire Graves, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”
Flash Drives For Freedom has set the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet.
Claire Graves
Executive Director of The Webby Awards
North Korea is ruled by a dynastic, totalitarian, communist dictatorship. The vast majority of North Koreans have no access to outside information: no internet, no foreign postal mail, and no ability to make phone calls abroad. Only government-sanctioned propaganda is allowed. This monopoly of information allows the Kim dynasty to prolong its brutal dictatorship, which runs on Stalin-style gulags, pervasive political police, and the systematic torture, rape, and murder of civilians.
“To be selected as the winner out of 13,000 entries is a tremendous honor. Information will transform North Korea and empower its people to seek freedom,” said HRF board member and North Korean defector Yeonmi Park.
An observer donates a USB drive by inserting it into Kim Jong-un’s mouth.
Buena and the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) launched the award-winning Flash Drives for Freedom program with a simple yet powerful call to action: donate a USB drive you have lying around your house to help liberate the minds of North Korean people and provide them with valuable information. Placing outside information into the hands of citizens enables the North Korean people to experience a different reality: one where systematic violence, physical suffering, and intellectual oppression are not the norm.
