- 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 […]
- European “terrorist content” proposal is dangerous for human rights globally This post was updated at 14:40 CET to note result from 6 December 2018 meeting of the Home Affairs Council. There’s a reason why, when courts function properly, they offer more due process than corporations when it comes to making decisions about free expression. Deciding what speech can take place in public forums in democratic […]
- 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 […]
- What’s Up, WhatsApp? We share some ideas for how WhatsApp can combat misinformation while preserving end-to-end encryption.
- Introduction to Mobil-Eyes Us 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 […]
- 4 tips to have co-present and active audiences in livestreams By Clara Medeiros and Adriano Belisário Livestreams are one of the most engaging types of content on the Internet, and Mobil-Eyes-Us, a WITNESS initiative, builds up this content to help activists engage their audience deliberately so that they become more active, useful and “co-present” when they are needed. We had the chance to observe, test, […]
- Alex Jones, Myanmar, and free expression online Imagine ending up in jail with no understanding of what the charges against you are, no idea what legal process you will be facing, and no idea what happens if you appeal your conviction- or even how to appeal. It sounds like a Kafka novel, but that’s how social media platforms operate today. It has […]
- The Right to Record Recognized at the United Nations Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Council promoted the right to record explicitly in resolution A/HRC/38/L.16 — WITNESS explains what this means for activists and human rights defenders around the world.
- Deepfakes and Synthetic Media: Survey of Solutions against Malicious Usages This is the second in a series of blogs on a new area of focus at WITNESS 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 and freedom of expression. The first in the blog series can be […]
- Deepfakes and Synthetic Media: What should we fear? What can we do? This is the first in a series of blogs on a new area of focus at WITNESS 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 and freedom of expression. We’ll be sharing expanded elements of the report […]
- New United Nations Report calls on companies to take a “A Human Rights Approach to Platform Content Regulation” Our Tech+Advocacy Program Manager Dia Kayyali breaks down the Special Rapporteur's newest report to the UN Human Rights Council, a report calling for a "human rights approach to platform content moderation."
- Media Activists: WITNESS and Guardian Project Have Your Back Do you believe that video and technology can support human rights? WITNESS does. We’ve seen first-hand the power of video in supporting and securing human rights. But these days, cameras are everywhere, and so are videos of human rights abuses. This video can be safe, ethical, and effective. But sometimes, documentation gets lost in the […]
- The NYPD Wants to Know Your Thoughts on Bodycams (Kind of) Many police departments in the US, including the NYPD, are expanding their use of bodycams. But is this enough?
- Access to the Internet is a Human Right WITNESS joins a coalition of groups to speak out against state-led internet shutdowns and to demand that governments around the world #KeepItOn.
- How to Use YouTube’s New Blurring Feature to Protect Identities YouTube's blurring function allows users to blur select items such as faces or identifying information. In this post we will show you how to use the tool.
