- Defending Democracy: Human Rights Implications of Generative AI and Deepfakes in the 2025 Philippine Elections This blog is a report from a workshop held in the Philippines on 12th April 2025, which explored the human rights risks posed by generative AI and deepfakes in the lead-up to the 2025 elections. Participants examined how these technologies are weaponized for disinformation and political repression and shared strategies to defend truth and democracy. […]
- Why Do We Need Community-based Approaches to Visual Verification? WITNESS' new Community-based Guide to Visual Verification supports activists and journalists in verifying important human rights documentation such as videos and photos.
- AI, Disinformation and the Battle for Truth: How Ghana’s 2024 elections exposed the new age of political deception Disinformation and deepfakes in Ghana’s elections exposed a new age of political deception, WITNESS responded by connecting local journalists with our Deepfakes Rapid Response Force and developing tactics for fortifying community truth.
- Tomorrow’s Great Digital Divide: Content With or Without Provenance In a world rife with distrust of information and disinformation, tracing the source and history of the media we consume –its provenance– can inform our trust. But the reality is a significant portion of online content will always exist without traceable provenance. How do we prepare for these challenges and best mitigate potential risks and harms?
- Toward Equitable and Effective AI Detection Tools: A Call for Standards That Serve All Communities Written by shirin anlen As generative AI technology evolves, so do the tools designed to detect it. Yet, in the race to develop high-performing detection systems, a critical element risks being overlooked. Effectiveness is often measured through technical benchmarks: accuracy, speed, scalability, and versatility. While these metrics are important, they fail to capture the full […]
- Fortifying the Truth in the Age of Synthetic Media and Generative AI: Perspectives from Asia-Pacific In August 2024, WITNESS hosted in Bangkok, Thailand, over 40 journalists, fact-checkers, technologists, policy advocates, creators, human rights defenders and community activists from different parts of the Asia-Pacific region. In our two-day workshop, we discussed threats and opportunities that generative AI and synthetic media bring to audiovisual witnessing, identifying and prioritizing collective responses that can have a positive impact on the information landscape.
- Fortifying the Truth in the Age of Synthetic Media In May 2024, WITNESS hosted in São Paulo, Brazil, over 25 journalists, fact-checkers, technologists, policy advocates, creators, human rights defenders and community activists from different parts of the country. In our two-day workshop, we discussed threats and opportunities that generative AI and synthetic media bring to audiovisual witnessing, identifying and prioritizing collective responses that can […]
- Fortifying the Truth in the Age of Synthetic Media and Generative AI: [Read this blog in Spanish] In August 2023, WITNESS hosted in Bogotá, Colombia, over 25 journalists, fact-checkers, technologists, policy advocates, creators, human rights defenders and community activists from all of South America and Mexico. In our two-day workshop, we discussed threats and opportunities that generative AI and synthetic media bring to audiovisual witnessing, identifying and […]
- Strengthening Collective Capacity to Respond to the War on Gaza Read WITNESS’ Statement. This post is also available in Arabic. A communications blackout plunged millions of Gazans, including civilians, journalists, paramedic teams and aid agencies, in an information vacuum from October 27 to midday October 29 when connectivity was partially restored. Today, we stand in a moment fraught with the gravest of risks for further […]
- Using Generative AI for Human Rights Advocacy In this post we explore the potential of using generative AI and synthetic media tools (“AI tools”) to support human rights advocacy and social critique–but only with appropriate caution and ethical considerations.
- Fortifying the Truth in the Age of Synthetic Media and Generative AI Written by Raquel Vazquez Llorente, Jacobo Castellanos, and Nkem Agunwa. In March 2023, WITNESS hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, over 20 journalists, fact-checkers, technologists, policy advocates, creators, human rights defenders and community activists from six African countries: Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia. In our two-day workshop, we discussed threats and opportunities that generative AI […]
- Building Human Rights Oriented Guidelines for Synthetic Media Takeaways/TLDR: Partnership on AI, in collaboration with WITNESS and other key allies, has published the Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media Framework, which offers guidelines for developing, creating, sharing, and publishing synthetic media ethically and responsibly. The Framework is directed towards those building technology and infrastructure for synthetic media, those creating synthetic media, and those distributing […]
- #KenyaDecides2022: How Disinformation Fanned Political Anxiety Kenya’s recently concluded election has been lauded as transparent, credible and peaceful. However, in the closely contested presidential race between former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and outgoing Deputy President William Ruto, the torrent of misinformation and disinformation ran rampant online throughout the electoral process. For millions of Kenyans social media has become the primary source […]
- Understanding the Dangers of Gendered Disinformation in African Elections Co-authored by Temiloluwa Alalade One of the targets of SDG 5 is to “ensure women’s full and effective participation, and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.” Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the percentage of women’s leadership and participation in politics and […]
- Fact from Fiction: Curbing Mis/disinformation in African Elections Co-authored by Temiloluwa Alalade During election season, voters are inundated with campaign materials intended to sway their votes. To engage with information meaningfully voters should have a basic understanding of digital and media literacy as well as critical thinking skills. Experts in Kenya warn that disinformation in elections may increase electoral violence globally. Election–related misinformation […]
