Lebanon's Sunnis have felt empowered by the uprising of their brethren in Syria and have been increasingly assertive in challenging Hezbollah.
"Without Twitter the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy," Mark Pfeifle, a former national-security adviser, later wrote, calling for Twitter to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Critics of the prime minister, who last month visited the US and received a warm welcome from President Barack Obama and Silicon Valley's top executives, say that since Modi took power rightwing groups have felt empowered.
"It may be that in the wake of publicity associated with the late Jimmy Savile and other historical abuse cases, more adult survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as more recent victims, have felt empowered to come forward to tell the police," the report says.
"The students shouldn't have felt empowered to hold 'Wigger Day' in 2009," Williams said.
So yeah, I do think millions of women have felt empowered to not just sit there and take it.
While there was no federal law against FGM when she went through it, the 34-year-old advocate wonders if her mother would have felt empowered to stand up against the practice even if there had been.
"This past year has been an extraordinary moment for game workers," said Emma Kinema, an California-based organizer with Game Workers Unite, citing the fact that workers have felt empowered to share their complaints publicly.
Under Trump, autocrats have felt empowered and validated by the President of the United States, whose fondest aspiration is to join their ranks, without the pesky interference of courts, a free press, and balky legislators.
For now, at least one young member of the community has felt empowered by the programme.
