- Collectives From All Regions of Brazil Gather in Rio 35 activists from 6 cities met to discuss strategies on how to use video for change. The convening “#R2R – For the Right to Record” featured representatives from Belém, Santarém, Fortaleza, Recife, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasîlia and Porto Alegre. These representatives consisted of video activists, human rights lawyers, archivists, and community media collectives. […]
- Deepfakes and Synthetic Media: Updated Survey of Solutions against Malicious Usages Last updated: June 2019 (NOTE: please send feedback on areas/examples we are missing to sam [at} witness.org: this is not a comprehensive list!) This is a survey of solutions around the emerging and potential malicious uses of so-called “deepfakes” and other forms of AI-generated “synthetic media” and how we push back to defend evidence, the truth […]
- WITNESS at RightsCon 2019: Full List of Panels We are headed to RightsCon in Tunis next week, and would love to see you! RightsCon focuses on the intersection of tech and human rights—where WITNESS lives. We’re more than ever in the center of hot debates around topics such as manipulated media and extremist content, so there’s no better opportunity to meet and collaborate […]
- Guidance on filming for human rights We have been working with filmmakers, editors, and activists for over 25 years. Here are some helpful guidelines for you when filming a video advocacy project for human rights.
- Storytelling in livestreaming: the Favela da Skol case in Brazil Mobil-Eyes Us is a project that explores technologies, tactics and storytelling strategies to use live video to connect viewers to frontline experiences of human rights issues. The goal is for audiences to become ‘distant witnesses’ who will take meaningful actions to support frontline activists. Mobil-Eyes-Us teaches us that a series of live broadcasts can form […]
- Western Sahara—Africa’s Last Colony Western Sahara, with a population of over half a million people and 200,000km land mass – the size of South Dakota – is the world’s largest non self-governing territory. It is also Africa’s last colony, left under Moroccan occupation following the retreat of Spanish colonial power in the 1960s. The human rights situation is still […]
- Open Conversations & Collaborations in Franschhoek “We need to be able to show breasts.” This was only one of many learning moments at this year’s WITNESS retreat: the importance of Facebook support groups for the trans-community, specifically around sex reassignment surgery and for those navigating the challenges of transforming their body and identity. “For much of the queer community, this is […]
- 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 […]
- 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 […]
- Call-outs in live streamings Mobil-Eyes Us is a project of WITNESS and the WITNESS Media Lab to explore potential new approaches to livestream storytelling for action. We look at technologies, tactics and storytelling strategies to use live video to connect viewers to frontline experiences of human rights issues they care about, so they become ‘distant witnesses’ who will take […]
- WITNESS brings together voices to push back on dangerous EU “Dissemination of Terrorist Content” proposal What do human rights defenders, journalists, archivists, and digital rights groups from California to Lebanon to Southeast Asia have in common? We all agree that the proposed Regulation on Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online, currently moving through the Committee process in the European Parliament, is a serious threat to free expression online—and, paradoxically, to efforts […]
- How to Back Up WhatsApp By Yvonne Ng and Gabi Ivens Published on: 25 January 2019 The messaging platform WhatsApp has 1.5 billion users worldwide and is increasingly being used as a tool to organize, mobilize, as well as to share important human rights content. This tutorial, put together by WITNESS, helps you decide whether you should use WhatsApp’s built-in […]
- How to export content from WhatsApp By Yvonne Ng and Gabi Ivens Published on: 18 December 2018 The messaging platform WhatsApp has 1.5 billion users worldwide and is increasingly being used as a tool to organize, mobilize, as well as to share important human rights content. This tutorial, put together by WITNESS, walks you through how to download and export your […]
- What image gives you hope for human rights? [UPDATE, DECEMBER 10th] In just a few hours, we’ve already received responses from activists in more than 20 countries and contributions continue to pour in on Twitter and Facebook! THANK YOU – we’re humbled by your courage and grateful for your participation! We’ll keep updating this playlist throughout the week with your images of hope: […]
- 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 […]
