- New Online Resource Focuses on Activist Safety and Preventing Arrest in Iran We speak with United for Iran about their new resource "Safe Activism," a guide for Iranian activists on how to avoid or minimize the impact of an arrest.
- This Week on the Human Rights Channel – ICYMI Edition From the results of Kashmir’s election to an interview with Aleppo’s Free Syrian Army fighters, and calls for peace and security in Pakistan following the deadly school attack last month, this posts features some of the citizen reports that came out at the end of 2014.
- Maziar Bahari on Solitary Confinement, Freedom of Expression, and the Future of (Citizen) Journalism Maziar Bahari speaks to WITNESS about the new film "Rosewater" which tells the story of his solitary confinement and torture in an Iranian prison.
- Rallies in Iran Against Acid Attacks on Women Online footage offers a rare peek into Iranian civil society and anger over gender-based violence, sparked by recent acid attacks on women in the northern city of Isfahan.
- Unlock Iran Invites You To Experience Life as an Iranian Political Prisoner Unlock Iran is a new innovative visual storytelling platform featuring the stories of Iranian “prisoners of rights,” or individuals who are detained for political, religious or other personal beliefs deemed a threat by the Iranian government.
- In Focus: Iran’s 2013 Presidential Election Despite technical challenges and government surveillance, Iranians are determined to share with the world videos expressing dissent and frustration during the presidential election cycle.
- Citizen Video for Journalists…and Everyone Else 90 countries. 1,892 videos. 137 in-depth human rights playlists. 1 year of the Human Rights Channel on YouTube.
- Unleashing the Potential of Citizen Witnesses With more witnesses from more regions equipped to document their communities, how can we in the human rights, media, and technology fields help realize the potential of citizen reporters?
- Video Advocacy Example: Religious Persecution of the Baha’is in Iran The short documentary series “Angels of Iran” strives to raise awareness about a minority group that is too often left out of history books and conversations. In each video, Iran’s Baha’is come forward to tell their own stories of persecution and oppression. The videos do not come in any set order, but “Faith and Sacrifice: The Baha’is in Iran” provides an effective introduction for those who know little about the Baha’i Faith. It offers a broad overview of the situation and introduces us to Iran’s Baha’is on a very personal level.
- Crowd-Sourcing Surveillance: When Does Little Brother Get Too Big? On June 16, riots swept downtown Vancouver after the Vancouver Canucks lost the Final of the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The online response to the riots—a public campaign to name and shame rioters followed by a heated discussion regarding whether naming and shaming constitutes vigilantism or community policing—still rages.
- Watch: Cameras Everywhere – Presentation at Re:Publica 2011 A couple of weeks ago I presented at Re:Publica, the largest social media conference in Germany. Since the conference gives a generous 50 minutes to its speakers I had the opportunity not only to talk about WITNESS and our work in general (first 10 minutes or so), but also to explain in some depth the video advocacy challenges and opportunities surfaced by events in the Middle East and North Africa as well as some of the emerging questions in our Cameras Everywhere initiative. Namely, how do human rights values and practicalities intersect in the new ubiquitous video moment?
- Human Rights Video, Privacy and Visual Anonymity in the Facebook Age The successful nationwide organizing and subsequent protests in Egypt to oust the 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak have in part been facilitated by Facebook. But as media and technology commentators and human rights activists alike are noting, using Facebook for activism is fraught with risks.
- Must Watch: Activist Video Showcase at DIY Video 24/7, 2010 Two years ago I had the pleasure of participating in 24/7: a DIY Video Summit, a jamboree of DIY and DIWO (doing-it-with-others) video creators and thinkers at the University of Southern California, where I shared some ideas from WITNESS about human rights video in this environment.
- New Collaboration with YouTube on The Power of Human Rights Video This is the first in an occasional blog series about human rights video. We are pleased to be collaborating with Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics at YouTube on the series. The original post, written by Sameer Padania (former Hub Manager at WITNESS) and Steve appeared on YouTube’s blog . As always, we welcome […]
- tyrannybook: The Facebook of Human Rights Violators and Those Who Watch Them Earlier this month, Amnesty International Portugal launched tyrannybook, a new social media site designed to spotlight some of the world's worst human rights violators.
