Would you like to learn more about how to effectively counter online harassment? Join us at Goto 10 where Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS, will talk about how to counter video based online harassment. The following workshop focuses on how to include safety and privacy by design in tech and online services.

Hate speech and online harassment is steadily increasing, especially targeting vulnerable people and groups. LGBTQ communities globally, for example, are suffering from a spike in attacks that are being filmed and disseminated through social video websites. Used right, however, video can also be an essential part of both legal and extra-legal justice processes, by documenting abuse and harassment and making sure that perpetrators are being found and convicted. Consumer platforms and tools like Facebook and YouTube can play a key role in supporting or hindering human rights activism.

WITNESS is an international NGO working with video and technology as empowering tools for human rights. The organization's approach to video as a method to provide evidence has been instrumental in a large number of local and global efforts. WITNESS' work includes covering police violence in Brazilian favelas, supporting journalists in Ukraine, and documenting the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Now, they are working closely with groups in the USA confronting a new wave of rights abuses.

A very important part of WITNESS’ work is also to engage with internet and tech companies, providing tools and strategies for safeguarding user safety and privacy while enhancing the value of these platforms for human rights purposes. Some of their ground-breaking work involves companies such as Facebook, SnapChat, and YouTube, ahead of the roll-out of their blurring tools and video filters.

Drawing on WITNESS' recent Capturing Hate Project, Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS, will show how video, shot for the wrong reasons, can be used for positive purposes. He will also explain how video can empower people living in oppressive or dangerous environments. After the presentation, we invite you to join a discussion-based workshop on how to include safety and privacy by design in tech innovations and online services. During this workshop, we will also discuss how you can learn from and support critical users like human rights defenders.

This event is co-organized by WITNESS, Sida, and RFSL, and is hosted by Goto 10. Fika will be provided during the break.

09.00 Presentation by Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS: Understanding and Countering Video Based Online Harassment

10.00 "Fika": Coffee Break

10.15 Workshop with WITNESS: How to Include Safety and Privacy by Design in Tech Innovations and Online Services