London, UK: The right to protest powers democracy. It’s behind many of the biggest leaps forward society has seen. In recent years however, people’s freedom to join peaceful demonstrations has been quietly eroded.  New research published today (3rd July) by Greenpeace shows an almost ten-fold rise in the number of arrests in London for conspiracy to cause public nuisance since 2019, but out of more than 600 arrests made, only 18 (2.8%) were ever charged. These numbers support Greenpeace claims that anti-protest laws are being used to remove and intimidate peaceful protesters.

Confronting this reality head on, elvis and Greenpeace have launched ‘They can’t arrest this billboard’ – a simultaneous digital protest across three UK cities which allows activists to make their stand inside Digital Out of Home (DOOH) screens, an act which draws attention to the very real risk of their arrest if they were outside.

‘They can’t arrest this billboard’ was awarded the Gold prize in the non-profit category of Ocean Outdoor’s annual Digital Creative Competition which seeks bold, original work that pushes the boundaries of DOOH.

Presented in partnership with Amnesty International UK, Friends of the Earth and Liberty, the campaign forms part of a growing movement asking the government to restore people’s right to make their voices heard on issues they care about by reversing anti-protest measures in two key pieces of legislation passed since 2022.

The virtual protest happens on 3rd July across Ocean’s city centre Loop networks in Birmingham and Manchester, and in a high footfall area of Westfield Stratford City in London on billboards in close proximity to each other to replicate a real protest.

Created and shot by elvis, the creative features videos of six high profile activists holding placards that say ‘I’m protesting in here to avoid arrest out there’.

Each advert faithfully represents the individual protester as if they were actually present on the street, the activists each representing an issue that they have protested about in the past and want to continue doing so in the future.  They are Jen Reid, author and Black Lives Matter activist; Khalid Abdallah, actor and protestor for Palestinian rights; Dr Helen Salisbury, GP and protestor for Keep Our NHS Public; Andy Greene, a disability rights activist with Disabled People Against the Cuts; Andrew McParland, climate activist and Greenpeace UK board member; and Sahanika Ratnayake, an academic who protests on environmental issues.

Outdoor audiences moving along the virtual OOH protest routes will encounter a sequence of different activists, just as they would in a real-life protest. A scannable QR code provides them with more information about which democratic rights are at risk under the Crime and Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament.

Janette Hall, head of campaign creative for Greenpeace UK, said: “Our democratic right to protest is rapidly being eroded with serious consequences that aren’t always visible. This campaign brings medium and message together in a stark way, asking an almost dystopian question that’s getting close to reality in the UK today: what if billboards were the last place to protest without fear of arrest? We wanted to spotlight the courageous people this government is trying to silence – those standing up to defend everything from the future of the NHS to human rights and the planet. If you care about anything, care about your right to speak up – and be heard.”

Caroline Davison, managing director and sustainability lead, elvis, said: “The freedom to make your voice heard is the lifeblood of a healthy democracy, and with democracy under threat at home and around the world, we must take a stand to ensure our hard-won right to protest is not stripped away – it is the right that all other rights depend upon.  “Many people have no idea that this crackdown on peaceful protest is happening right under our noses, so we knew we had to raise awareness before it’s too late. It’s sobering to think that soon a billboard might be the only safe place left to protest.

“Whilst Digital Out of Home advertising is incredibly powerful in the main, in this instance, we can agree it isn’t comparable to actually being able to walk the streets together. This creative campaign makes the general public confront this reality head on.”

Head of Ocean Labs UK Melanie Blood said: “Different times require different measures. This campaign will make all of us stop and think. Out of Home is where the people are – and this powerful work strikes right at the heart of democratic rights.”

Jen Reid, author of ‘A Hero Like Me’ and a Black Lives Matter activist from Bristol, said: “The anti-racism movement has long experienced police abuse of their powers to suppress protest, and it does have a chilling effect. It takes real courage to raise your head and your voice when you know that you’re unlikely to receive fair treatment under the law, when democratic rights don’t apply to you. And when one group can have their rights ignored, it becomes an option in the toolbox of police and politicians that they often go on to use on others. That’s what Fannie Lou Hamer meant when she said nobody’s free until everybody’s free, and that’s what’s happening now.”

Greenpeace will amplify the billboard campaign with social media activity including interviews with the activists and members of the public, and will ask the public to sign a petition calling on the government to stop the crackdown on protest and protect the right to freedom of expression: https://action.greenpeace.org.uk/protect-the-right-to-protest

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