Our Vision
Media activists risk arrest, or worse, to provide a rare window into human rights violations in Western Sahara.
Building Ecosystems
By connecting diverse actors, we help build the field and catalyze change. We equip activists, lawyers, journalists, and marginalized communities with skills, tools, and capabilities to use video and technology effectively.
“What WITNESS does is create, support, and sustain a global network of people who use video as their tool, as their weapon.”
Activist
Spreading Skills and Tools
Video and technology have the potential to transform the way we participate and advocate for human rights. Our regional teams create a global rapid response network which provides timely and relevant guidance on issues that relate directly to activists when and where they need them. Our resource downloads have doubled in the last year, particularly our Video as Evidence guidance which is spearheading a new approach in the use of video for justice. Our tools are all open source, helping people be safer and more effective in their use of video and technology to promote human rights.
“In this age, when the mass media rest in fewer and fewer hands, we must have strong, vital, and independent voices if we ever want to hear all the stories or seek justice.”
WITNESS Co-Founder and Chair
Program Director Sam Gregory speaking at the Digital Forensic Research Lab’s 360/OS 2019 summit in London. Photo: Sarah Halls
Influencing Technology
WITNESS brings a human-rights framing to technology companies and platforms, advocating for global, real-world perspectives to be integrated into policy, product, and practice decisions.
In today’s information ecosystem, AI and other emerging technologies can spread misinformation and disrupt democracy — or they can increase civic engagement and participation, enabling people to speak truth to power and make their voices heard. We bring the voices and experiences of frontline activists to tech giants, ensuring that products, practices, and policies enable human rights, rather than stand in the way of it.
A video advocacy training with women’s rights activists in Uganda.