- 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 […]
- 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 […]
- What’s needed in deepfakes detection? April 2020 Misinformation and disinformation are a critical problem for societies worldwide. In response, WITNESS’s work addressing new forms of media manipulation such as deepfakes and synthetic media is focused on preparing better, and advancina a more global, human rights-lead approach to these emerging threats. Learning from previous and current mis/disinformation challenges, where critical impacted […]
- Anatomy of a Google Hangout On Air A list of tools, tips, and roles on host a successful Google Hangout On Air from a WITNESS digital producer.
- Being Social on Social Media Two interns with WITNESS' social media team learned not only how to effectively share information with our followers, but how to create a strategy for engagement.
- An Open Source Approach to Translation The fact that 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute is astonishing. And the immense amounts of footage shot and uploaded by citizens in places like Syria, Egypt and Chile reminds us that video is increasingly being used to expose human rights abuses. As more activists turn towards video for advocacy and evidentiary purposes, there is a critical need for accessible training resources that teach how to create and share videos safely, effectively and ethically.
- Saving Human Rights Video from an Online “Deadpool” Perhaps serving as a reminder to video creators that video sharing platforms are not archival repositories for their media (nor do they claim to be), Google Video will be finally shutting down entirely next month. Starting April 29, videos hosted on Google Video will no longer be available for playback; after May 13, the videos will be removed. Google is encouraging content owners to download or migrate their videos to YouTube before the deadline.
- It Gets Better: Collective and Individual Voice in Video Advocacy Recently a number of public figures in the USA have added their voices to the "It Gets Better" campaign, which aims to share hopeful messages with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth who may be wondering if life will always be bad.
- What do you think about human rights (and your rights) online? Government police shutting down farmer’s protests in China. A tobacco company employing under-age workers in Kazakhstan. Iranian merchants striking to protest tax increases in Tehran.
- Google unmuzzles itself in China Google has received brickbats a-plenty for its stance in China, where, in order to be permitted to operate by the Chinese government, the search company agreed to censor particular "sensitive" search results - Tiananmen, Dalai Lama, democracy, human rights, and so on.
- Google announces overhaul of Google Video strategy, plans for YouTube’s future In a somewhat timely turn of events relative to my last post about Google Video, Google has just announced that Google Video will become a search engine for video content posted anywhere online. Users now get search results from YouTube in addition to Google Video. Here’s a full article from Arstechnica.
