How A Pakistani Woman Used Social Media To Abolish Election Rigging

On Monday, The Huffington Post launched the first entry in a new five-part documentary series  created by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the ACLU. The short films tied to Gordon-Levitt’s new movie “Snowden ” tackle the question “Does technology help or hurt democracy?”

Today’s installment spotlights a young woman who witnessed election rigging in her native Pakistan. After documenting the corruption on Facebook , she realized a slew of others had experienced the same thing. Protests erupted and change was effected, all because of social media. 

“None of that would have happened if people didn’t have these devices, this new technology, these phones that are connected to the whole world, where they could record the people who were intimidating the voters,” Gordon-Levitt said during a Facebook Live interview on Monday. “There’s probably that kind of voter intimidation going on forever, ever since the begnning of democracy, but it’s only recently, ever since we had this new tehcnology, that people can shine a light on it. That’s a good thing.”

See the full story unfold in the short film above, and check back on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET for the next chapter in the series. 

Watch our full interview with Gordon-Levitt below.