- The Right to Record in Africa – Law versus Reality The Nigerian police force has a popular phrase which you will find displayed in most police stations. It says: The Police is your friend. But the average Nigerian does not know this to be true. The high levels of police violence coupled with the absence of accountability has sparked social movements such as #EndSARS and […]
- Juan’s Story Part 2: Using Video as Evidence in Immigration Proceedings This post is part of the WITNESS US Program and Media Lab’s series,“Eyes On ICE: Documenting Abuses Against Immigrant Communities.” The following is a case study for the consideration of immigration attorneys, advocates, and community members nationwide thinking through the creative use of video in defending individuals against deportation. The case at hand was filed […]
- 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 […]
- 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 […]
- Suicide or Escape? Fact Checking Reporting on Migrant Abuse in MENA How media misreported a Snapchat video of migrant worker abuse, and how we can do better
- Trapped in the Gulf: Exposing Migrant Abuse This post is part of the WITNESS Media Lab’s new project, “Perpetrator Video in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)”. This project examines how human rights advocates and journalists can turn the proliferation of eyewitness and perpetrator video into more ethical and effective storytelling and documentation of human rights abuse in the MENA. Follow along each […]
- Hope for Justice: 7 years of the Syrian Uprising WITNESS catches up and reflects with our partners working with activists, lawyers, and investigators to secure justice in Syria, 7 years after the uprising began.
- Last Month in Video: Cameras got smarter. Will we? From Florida teens using video as a powerful advocacy tool, to Pakistan's High Court ruling on network shutdowns, to the supercharged technology behind "smart" cameras and facial recognition: this is Last Month in Video, February 2018 edition.
- Video As Evidence in the Middle East & North Africa WITNESS and PILnet answer questions on the past and future of video as evidence, and how their collaboration on the Video As Evidence in the Middle East & North Africa report came about.
- The Hunt for Digital Evidence of the Rohingya Genocide In documenting historical records of destruction or grievous danger to a peoples over time, digital trails are a human rights crusader’s best–sometimes most accurate–source of evidence. And yet at the same time, such data can fall into the wrong hands, putting the lives of the persecuted, and those fighting for their rights, at grave risk. […]
- Last Month in Video: September 2017 From Rio to Cairo's Mashrou' Leila concert and a Utah nurse's refusal to an unconstitutional blood draw, we review September 2017 in human rights video.
- Keep fighting; keep filming This month marks three years since Eric Garner was murdered by the NYPD. This month, Black Lives Matter turned four years old. And this month marked four years since a jury of almost all white women acquitted the man who killed Trayvon Martin of second-degree murder. Racism in the United States has been forced out […]
- #EyesOnICE: Legal Issues and Security when filming Immigration Officials Resources and responses to questions around filming Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) safely, ethically, and effectively.
- Can video bring down impunity? WITNESS joins TRIAL International for a training on fighting impunity by using video to prosecute international crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Expose human rights abuses, not the people who survive them You’d probably never heard of him last week, but his face has gone viral this week. Dr. David Dao, the man who was dragged off of United Airlines flight #3411 on Sunday, was trying to get home to see patients. Instead, he ended up getting violently dragged off of a flight—to provide space for United crewmembers.1 […]