#drawthelinecomics

CHECK FACTS

Facts are a better weapon than insults, that ’https://drawthelinecomics.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit.phps for sure.

In a ‘post-truth’ world, let’s hold onto the importance of veracity. In the UK you can use FullFact.org, and in the US, Politifact, and there are numerous projects worldwide with the same mission: remaining politically neutral while simply researching and presenting the facts behind news stories.

REFUSE TO SHUT UP

If you’ve been angry six times this week, the next outrage might just start to feel a bit samey – but we’ve got to keep shouting.

You might lose a few Twitter followers, friends might begin to yawn… some things are more important.

SPEAK UP AGAINST BULLYING

If you see someone being bullied, online, at work, at school, at home or in public, stand by the victim.

And speak up: report it to your boss, your teachers, the police. If they’re the people doing the bullying, go public. You owe it to everyone.

DIG DEEPER

Have conversations that help you understand the opposite points of view.Knowledge is power, and what’s more, a little understanding makes for much more useful dialogues.The internet is already full of people throwing insults at those who hold opposing views. Let’s genuinely try and understand where they’re coming from.

HACK THE GOVERNMENT

In Taiwan, the government wasn’t being as transparent or making as much use of online technologies as certain hackers would have liked — so they created their own version of the government websites, just changing one letter of the URL (from gov to g0v).

With a single stroke of the keyboard, the public could access public assets and information as they ought to be, sharing open data and inviting collaboration.

Several years on, one of the primary instigators of this movement has become the country’s Minister for Digital.

PUT IT LIVE

We live in modern times — so whether you’re taking part in a protest, witnessing police brutality, or viewing conditions in a refugee camp: get it on film and show an unbiased, unedited picture to the world.

Putting a video on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, YouTube or Instagram can be the quickest way to get news to spread — and to show the reality of a situation.

Art by David Baillie

EXPOSE YOUR KIDS

Make sure your children are reading books and watching movies that present a diverse range of characters and expose them to worlds outside their own.

Choose entertainment that will help shape them into true citizens of the world

CHECK YOUR VOCABULARY

Daisy Hernández, author of A Cup of Water Under My Bed, says: “What are you noticing about headlines when the police kill another black teenager? Is the teen described as a kid on his way to college or as a “black male”? I try to raise awareness that we’re trafficking in racial ideology 24-7 online — and that we can change the direction of these conversations every time we hit “comment.”

Same applies across all sectors of society — from gender non-binary to disabled people, and everything in between. Pick your words with care.