It was a victorious moment for Emmy Suzuki Harris when the Matsue Board of Education in Shimane Prefecture retracted its request to limit students' access to the manga "Hadashi no Gen" ("Barefoot Gen").

The retraction last summer was partly because the ban had gone viral and triggered a controversy after more than 20,000 signatures were collected online against the restriction via Change.org. Suzuki Harris had launched the Japanese edition of the global petition platform in August 2012.

"We had significant victories where people felt like they are part of something that happened," said Suzuki Harris. "People see something in the news and think, 'Actually I have an opinion about that,' and join the petition to make their voices heard."