Love photography as much as we do? Sign up for the BuzzFeed News newsletter JPG.
The 2010s offered unprecedented visibility to civic and political issues as the rise of social media fueled protests around the world and mobilized large groups of people behind their causes. In the US, hashtags like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter became rallying cries for social justice; internationally, protesters in the Arab Spring and Hong Kong demonstrations used social media to spread information and work against the governments trying to silence them.
While the internet has helped shed light on these causes, it's also provided a new platform for hate and bigotry in the form of ultranationalism, tribalism, and white supremacy. As we enter the next decade, issues like climate change, internet privacy, and gun violence have gained traction among a new generation of activists who are sure to shift the discourse in the coming years.
To highlight the tremendous moments in activism that have defined this past decade, BuzzFeed News combed through thousands of pictures to highlight the ones that best represent the events that have shaped the world as we know it today. While this list could not include every major protest of the last decade, we attempted to collect pictures that spoke to larger social shifts. Here are the most powerful protest photos from the 2010s.
