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The Role of Disinformation in Perpetuating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Africa
This blog post is part one of a two-part series. Co-authored by Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi Media responses to SGBV The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation has introduced new forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) such as online bullying, sexual harassment, image based sexual violence among others. This amplifies the problem and further impedes access […]
Nkemakonam Agunwa
December 6, 2021
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WITNESS and the C2PA Harms and Misuse Assessment Process
Lee el artículo en español aquí. Co-authored by Sam Gregory. TLDR: Building on WITNESS’ focus on developing an authenticity infrastructure that works globally and supports civic journalism and human rights uses and values, we have been part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity specifications development effort. Right now we’re focused on identifying and […]
Jacobo Castellanos
December 2, 2021
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Prioritize Non-Technological Methods for Combating Misinformation and Disinformation
Detecting mis/disinfo Technology platforms are facing their biggest hurdle yet as they race to beat the fast-evolving forms of misinformation and disinformation perpetuated online. More pressing is the sophisticated technology deployed by mis/disinformation actors that make it increasingly difficult to detect and counter. To address this, tech platforms have introduced a number of technological solutions […]
Nkemakonam Agunwa
October 14, 2021
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Eyes on Internet Shutdowns: Documenting for Human Rights
This is the first of a series of posts to mark the official launch of WITNESS’s global campaign on internet shutdowns, that highlights community strategies for documenting human rights abuses during a shutdown. Visit the campaign homepage to stay updated about new resources. This blog post is available in Spanish, Arabic and Farsi. In an impassioned […]
Meghana Bahar
September 1, 2021
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Pre-Empting a Crisis: Deepfake Detection Skills + Global Access to Media Forensics Tools
In a recent WIRED Op-ed I share the story of a recent deepfake panic in Myanmar. Spoiler: It probably wasn’t a deepfake… but it has important implications for how we think about access to deepfake detection technology and what skills, capacities and escalation options are needed. You can read more about the story here. “RECENTLY […]
Sam Gregory
July 14, 2021
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Mencadangkan Media Ponsel Tanpa Internet atau Komputer
Oleh Yvonne Ng Dengan kontribusi dari Arul Prakkash Artikel ini adalah bagian dari Seri Pendokumentasian Selama Pemadaman Internet Also available in Arabic, Spanish and English. Terakhir diulas: 31 Januari 2020 Cadangan merupakan kunci dalam memastikan data dan dokumentasi kamu tidak terhapus, rusak, atau hilang secara tiba-tiba apabila perangkat kamu hilang. Selama Internet Shutdown atau penurunan kecepatan internet, […]
Yvonne Ng
December 22, 2020
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The Adobe Content Authenticity Initiative approach to authenticity infrastructure against media manipulation
Launch of the Content Authenticity Initiative White Paper Today the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) spearheaded by Adobe, Twitter and the New York Times publishes its White Paper. WITNESS is a co-author on the paper and has been part of the Working Group developing the standards alongside other groups including TruePic, Microsoft, the BBC, CBC and […]
Sam Gregory
August 3, 2020
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COVID-19 Misinformation and Disinformation Responses: Sorting the Good from the Bad
—May 2020: Sam Gregory, Dia Kayyali, Corin Faife. Last updated: 5/29 In this blog post we give an overview of some of the key trends in platform response to misinformation, disinformation and harmful speech during COVID-19, and develop a set of criteria through which the wide range of possible reactions can be assessed, using a framework […]
WITNESS
May 21, 2020
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Tracing trust: Why we must build authenticity infrastructure that works for all
May 2020 TLDR: Coronavirus has dramatically increased the stakes for how we deal with issues of manipulated, fake and deceptive video and audio online, with governments, companies and publics responding to the need to discern truth from falsehood. One solution to misinformation and disinformation is to better track what is authentic, what is manipulated and […]
Sam Gregory
May 6, 2020
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The Pros and Cons of Facebook’s New Deepfakes Policy
Yesterday Facebook released its policy on enforcing against manipulated media, detailing how the company would respond to deepfakes, and to a lesser extent shallowfakes. On Wednesday 8 January 2020 the US Congress will hold another hearing on digital manipulation, following on from the first congressional hearing on deepfakes in June 2019. Over the past two years WITNESS has […]
Sam Gregory
January 7, 2020
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To Fight Deepfakes Build Media Literacy, Say African Activists
—December 23, 2019 In late November 2019, WITNESS led a workshop on deepfakes at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Building on the success of a workshop in Brazil in July, and with another workshop in Malaysia scheduled for 2020, the event series has been a unique effort to engage academics, journalists, researchers and human rights activists […]
WITNESS
December 23, 2019
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In Africa, Fear of State Violence Informs Deepfake Threat
Our deepfakes preparedness workshop in South Africa revealed that perceived threats from synthetic media vary greatly by region, especially where repressive government is a factor.
WITNESS
December 9, 2019
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Combating Gender-Based Tech Violence: Groundviews, Sri Lanka
Part 1 of 2 Exactly a year ago, on 5th March 2018, we watched as flames engulfed Digana, in the heart of Kandy. We saw quiet, multi-ethnic suburban localities swept up by a wave of anti-Muslim wrath. On 6th March 2018, the Sri Lankan government responded by blocking access to Facebook, Whatsapp and Viber, on […]
Meghana Bahar
March 8, 2019
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Rio goes live
Image: Brazilian politicians livestreaming while campaigning and breaking a Marielle Franco sign. Current Rio governor on the right and a now-elected deputy breaking the sign. By Adriano Belisário As mobile phone access and Internet bandwidth increased in this decade, video streamings became an important part in the political dispute: such as in the beginning with […]
WITNESS
February 22, 2019
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Harm Reduction for WhatsApp
Thanks to WITNESS’ Mozilla Fellow Gabriela Ivens for contributing the section on cloud backups and to all WITNESS partners and human rights defenders who have shared experiences of using WhatsApp that informed this article As we noted in our other WhatsApp focused blog post today, “Whats Up, WhatsApp?”, activists and journalists all over the world […]
WITNESS
November 13, 2018