Some of Spears’ most visible supporters have shown up for protests in Los Angeles,but plenty more have been following the pop star’s legal case from home. For them,fan-run accounts on Twitter,Instagram and other platforms have provided live updates,a global community and advocacy ideas. (For example,the Free Britney website suggests filing complaints against Spears’ former lawyer and writing letters to representatives.)
“People from all different backgrounds are involved and know what’s happening and feel that this is abusive and feel that it’s an injustice,” said Angela Rojas,a 30-year-old lawyer who is one of the five people behind the account @BritneyLawArmy. Rojas,who is Peruvian American,leads the account’s engagement efforts with Spanish speakers.
The other account administrators,all of whom live in and around Louisville,Kentucky,are Samuel Nicholson,30,and Marilyn Shrewsbury,32,who are lawyers who focus on civil rights cases;their assistant,Raven Koontz,23;and Emily Lagarenne,a 34-year-old recruiting consultant.
Although Spears is the focus of the account and the administrators are her fans,they see her fight for emancipation as one that anyone should be able to sympathise with. “This is about the human condition,” Rojas said. “It’s a human rights issue. It’s a disability rights issue. It’s a civil rights issue.”
Nicholson,who created the Twitter account in January,has notifications on the LA Superior Court’s e-filing site that alert him every time a document is filed. He and the others comb through those filings in search of new details,which they translate from legalese into easy-to-understand takeaways.