On our 55th birthday, we want to thank you for defending #HumanRights, fighting for justice & changing lives! pic.twitter.com/h2ZtLNAHPS

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) May 28, 2016

@Amnesty is now over 2 million followers strong. Together, we’ve changed lives and freed prisoners. As with the Amnesty movement of the past 55 years, we’ve gotten here by individual after individual standing up and shining a light, inspiring others to stand with them.

Thanks to social media, the world we live in is getting smaller and smaller – and the more interconnected we are, the harder it will be for human rights violations to go unnoticed.

Let’s take a look back on key moments in our online awareness and activism.

1) We joined Everytown for Gun Safety to promote National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Our tweets for the day reached 524,135 impressions and brought significant attention to this critical Human Rights crisis.

Every person, everywhere, has a right to live safe from gun violence. End #GunViolence #WearOrange pic.twitter.com/eRHS1Q8jzM

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) June 2, 2016

2) On World Press Freedom Day 2016, our tweet was retweeted 1,232 times. Three weeks later, journalist Khadija Ismayilova in Azerbaijan was freed, marking another victory in the fight for freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression is a human right, not a crime. World Press Freedom Day #wpfd2016 https://t.co/IbIsWEZW4o pic.twitter.com/K4wGQ4HHmk

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) May 3, 2016

3) We celebrated the release of Albert Woodfox. After 44 years of solitary confinement, he was able to finally come home. 

43 years of cruel isolation has ended. Today, on his 69th birthday, #AlbertWoodfox is FREE! https://t.co/YvDWl35ZyT pic.twitter.com/shen7jlxNQ

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) February 19, 2016

4) After much pressure, the White House finally agrees to block transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia that have gone on to kill civilians in Yemen.

Why is @WhiteHouse selling more bombs to #SaudiArabia when they kill civilians in #Yemen? https://t.co/3YwN5iromW pic.twitter.com/VkDaEE00mZ

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) January 23, 2016

5) On Human Rights Day 2015, we witnessed immense global success for our Write for Rights campaign. Over 265,624 actions were taken. We believe the steps you took helped free Albert Woodfox, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, and put pressure on Burkina Faso to commit to new laws that would eradicate forced and early marriage.

Happy #HumanRightsDay! ALL human beings are born free & equal in dignity and rights. https://t.co/o2ez2CVLsI pic.twitter.com/vu6fJyEA58

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) December 10, 2015

6) Edward Snowden joins twitter and the fight for online transparency.

Edward @Snowden, welcome to @Twitter! Thanks for standing up for #HumanRights & rights online. http://t.co/dphHDpciC9 pic.twitter.com/RZyqk7avYt

— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) September 29, 2015

Interesting: NSA spied on UN refugee protection group, which joins alumni @amnesty, @UNICEF. https://t.co/SRvsFHduMq https://t.co/A1Jv8HmaiL

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 23, 2016

7) Sophia Bush demands action on rape case in India with Amnesty International.

Stand with the two sisters in India. Stand with women. Make some noise. Sign this https://t.co/iSbnOUg4ar @amnesty

— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) August 28, 2015

8) Chelsea Manning mentions @Amnesty for standing up for human rights.

Starting with a shout out to the friends who have always stood by me @ggreenwald @amnesty @carwinb @savemanning and so many others #thankyou

— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) April 3, 2015

Thank you for following, engaging with us and taking action! We look forward to your continued support and even more victories in the fight for human rights.