The Blue Ribbon Campaign for Online Freedom of Speech, Press and Association A blue ribbon is chosen as the symbol for the preservation of basic civil rights in the electronic world. EFF asks that a blue ribbon be worn or displayed to show support for the essential human right of free speech. This fundamental building block of free society, affirmed by the U.S. Bill of Rights in 1791, and by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, has been sacrificed in the 1996 Telecom Bill. The blue ribbon will be a way to raise awareness of these issues, and for the quiet voice of reason to be heard. The voice of reason knows that free speech doesn't equate to abuse of women and children, or the breeding of hatred or intolerance. All internet users are strongly encouraged to place a blue ribbon graphic on their servers, such as the ones available here, with a link to the URL mentioned below. Many versions are available, including borderless, transparent, grey and black backrounds, smaller versions, and textless versions for incorporation into larger banners (as a standalone icon, please use the versions with text, so people have some idea that there IS a blue ribbon campaign and what is about when the first encounter it - not everyone has a color monitor, so the verbal name of the campaign is important to pass around.) Thank you for your support and activism, and remember - it's YOUR rights you are fighting for! Wear a real blue ribbon, so people ask you what it's all about. If you are not sure why you need to stand up for your free speech, or uncertain how your rights are threatened, please see our Internet Censorship Legislation Alerts at: http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/index.html#exon gopher.eff.org, 1/Alerts ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/ ******* If you'd prefer download the Blue Ribbon graphics via WWW, try the URL: http://www.eff.org/blueribbon.html ******* Sample HTML anchors for Gold Key icons
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign! NOTE: you need to make a local copy of the blue ribbon graphic you will use (rib_trn.gif in this example), and put the appropriate path/filename in the SRC link. Please do not point to EFF's copy of the icon - several thousand people doing this will swamp our server!