Witness Inc

Learning and sharing: a primary mechanism by which witness helps build the fabric of ecosystems is through the unique ability to learn and share, ensuring that guidance and tools can be adapted to, and shared with, communities facing similar issues around the world. As patterns of wrongdoing repeat themselves across borders and geographies, so too must the strategies and tactics for how video and technology can help realize opportunities and expose these abuses. A rohingya villager trying to archive and preserve the mass volume of war crimes footage captured on their mobile phone via whatsapp in myanmar can learn from a civic journalist in syria who has already thought through these challenges and workflows in a war crimes context; just as a community leader trying to prevent the illegal deforestation of their land in malaysia can learn from local leaders using video evidence to end the illegal invasion of their ancestral lands in the amazon.

Technology threats and opportunities:building on a rich history of anticipating the challenges and opportunities posed by emerging technologies, witness remains laser-focused on ensuring that innovation operates in service of a healthy and informed society, while serving and protecting those who need it most. It engages actors across the human rights and technology ecosystem, bringing grassroots perspectives to global technology companies and scaling impact in the process. Witness utilizes an understanding of the real and unprecedented threats posed by emerging technologies to develop threat models, ensure companies take rights-respecting approaches, and collaborate on applied research. The organization is a thought leader and cross-sector convener, addressing the threats of synthetic media, deceptive ai, surveillance, and security facing the human rights movement at large.

Resource creation and distribution:witness online library enables people to access, download, and adapt a range of open source tips and guidance on how to use video more safely and effectively for human rights. Year after year, witness has seen an increase in the overall engagement with these resources, demonstrating appetite and need for its materials across issue areas, regions, and languages. The organization recognizes the strategic power of social media and digital platforms as tools to widely distribute information, as well as the fact that people worldwide are turning to these platforms to communicate and participate in society.