Use When
Officials push through opaque, no-bid contracts or public–private surveillance deals.
Authorities restrict public comment, move meetings online without notice, or shorten speaking time.
Police use lethal force against protesters.
Instructions
- 1
Conceptualize the visual intervention by selecting high-traffic public corridors and defining how a targeted display campaign directly counters institutional opacity or corruption.
- 2
Sharpen the public message into an accessible headline under eight words, a brief plain-language explanation, and one explicit digital call to action.
- 3
Form a disciplined postering team, assigning specific responsibilities for graphic layout, localized risk assessment, physical distribution, and digital impact monitoring.
- 4
Connect with local free-expression legal allies and artistic activist networks to review ordinances and source downloadable, high-contrast templates.
- 5
Operationalize the campaign by mapping specific high-traffic transit nodes, university campuses, and permission-based community boards to maximize reach.
- 6
Build advance public presence by pre-testing layout readability from five meters and organizing secure, multilingual digital landing pages.
- 7
Engage media channels by preparing a press packet containing print-ready files, location maps, and the underlying evidentiary data.
- 8
Execute the distribution with strict nonviolent discipline, utilizing rotating buddy teams, wearing reflective safety vests, and documenting installed posters via photography.
- 9
Anchor the post-action narrative by tracking QR code scan metrics, refreshing weathered materials, and systematically publicizing online engagement to partners.
Historic Parallels
- Paris, 1968, student posters unified 10 million strikers, bypassing state media to win a major wage hike.
- Gdańsk, 1980, shipyard posters broke a media blackout, informing the public and winning independent trade union rights.
- Hong Kong, 2014, crowdsourced "Lennon Walls" sustained a 79-day protest and forced global media coverage of electoral crises.
Modern Examples
- Posters use icons and links to expose companies benefiting from rushed, secretive infrastructure deals.
- Tenants create multilingual posters for laundromats, churches, and clinics that explain illegal rent hikes.
- Students design posters mapping campus censorship, linking to petitions, teach-ins, and encrypted reporting forms.
Participants
Individual
Yes
3–5 people coordinating design, legal review, and mapping, plus 10–20 volunteers for printing, distribution, weekly refresh, and follow-up outreach at key locations.
Helpful Materials
- Weather-resistant posters
- Clipboards
- Markers
- Reflective vests
- Flashlights
- Headlamps
References
- Gene Sharp, The Methods of Nonviolent Action, 1973.
- Beautiful Trouble, Wheatpasting and Postering Guide, 2021.
- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century, 2021.
- American Civil Liberties Union, Know Your Rights: Protesters, 2024
- International Federation for Human Rights, Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly Toolkit, 2020
Use of Action Playbook educational materials must adhere with Unruled Masses’ Terms of Service.
Stay Nonviolent. Coordinate Strategically. Take Back Your Power.
