--- title: Amnesty International Stop Torture: 24 and Homeland Normalize Torture description: Amnesty International officials have said that '24' and its ilk have made torture seem normal canonical: https://time.com/100850/24-amnesty-international-torture/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-15T17:53:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:51:35.478Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Amnesty International Stop Torture: 24 and Homeland Normalize Torture og:description: Amnesty International officials have said that '24' and its ilk have made torture seem normal og:url: https://time.com/100850/24-amnesty-international-torture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13a61887df31cee5/69868f7d55a859b680a80d87/241.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 24 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Amnesty International Stop Torture: 24 and Homeland Normalize Torture twitter:description: Amnesty International officials have said that '24' and its ilk have made torture seem normal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13a61887df31cee5/69868f7d55a859b680a80d87/241.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Is _24_ Normalizing Real-Life Torture? > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 15, 2014 5:53 PM UTC  24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in the "1:00 PM - 2:00 PM" episode of 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY airing Monday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Daniel Smith/FOX 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in the "1:00 PM - 2:00 PM" episode of 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY airing Monday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Daniel Smith/FOXDaniel Smith / FOX  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 15, 2014 5:53 PM UTC Earlier this week, when Amnesty International announced the launch of its new, straightforwardly titled [Stop Torture campaign](http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/amnesty-international-global-crisis-torture-exposed-new-worldwide-campaign-2014-05-13), the organization’s officials singled out a surprising cause for the global torture crisis: TV shows. Though the UN Convention Against Torture was first adopted a full 30 years ago, Amnesty International reports observing torture in more than half of the states that have ratified that convention. In addition, the organization’s surveys have found that while a large majority of respondents believe that laws against torture are good, 36% thought torture was justified in some situations. Part of the problem, Amnesty officials have said, is that torture seems like something that’s necessary and useful in the course of global political and security business — thanks in part to _24_, which just launched its rebooted incarnation _24: Live Another Day_ this month, as well as _Homeland_. The French news agency Agence France-Presse [has reported](http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/torture-spreading-glorified-television-series-like-24-amnesty-intl/) that Kate Allen, an Amnesty official, said that those shows “have glorified torture to a generation” and have made viewers confuse “a dramatic depiction by screenwriters” with what really goes on in “torture chambers” around the world. The idea is not really that those who commit torture in the real world are doing it because they saw Jack Bauer do it; it’s that the rest of the population, having seen so much of it on shows like _24_, aren’t as shocked as they _should_ be to learn that it doesn’t only happen on TV. But, with _24_‘s return so recent, some are questioning whether Amnesty’s condemnation of the show will have any effect on public opinion: Jeune Afrique, a news site for French-speaking Africa, [notes](http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20140514115527/torture-droits-de-l-homme-amnesty-international-television-l-oeil-de-glez-jack-bauer-vs-amnesty.html) that the show is incredibly popular across the continent, which is also home to a majority of the countries that have not ratified the Convention Against Torture, and that its influence even extends beyond its air times (for example, the West African police show _Super flics_ has, according to the site, been influenced by _24_‘s structure). This isn’t the first time _24_ has been accused of normalizing torture. In 2005, for example, the New York _Times_ [pointed out](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/arts/television/22gree.html?ex=1274414400&en=38fb30c90ca92372&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) that the amount of torture on the show had increased, highlighting one particular episode that showed torture as an effective and justified interrogation tactic. In that particular episode, a suspected terrorist was freed by a misguided do-gooder lawyer — and that lawyer was working for a fictionalized version of Amnesty International. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/100850/24-amnesty-international-torture/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/100850/24-amnesty-international-torture/"},"headline":"Is 24 Normalizing Real-Life Torture?","datePublished":"2014-05-15T17:53:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:51:35.478Z","description":"Amnesty International officials have said that 24 and its ilk have made torture seem normal","url":"https://time.com/100850/24-amnesty-international-torture/","keywords":["Television","torture","Amnesty International","24","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13a61887df31cee5/69868f7d55a859b680a80d87/241.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13a61887df31cee5/69868f7d55a859b680a80d87/241.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"24","caption":"24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in the \"1:00 PM - 2:00 PM\" episode of 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY airing Monday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. 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