University of California: UC Berkeley students investigate war crimes using social media. “A ‘super-experimental’ lab launched at the University of California, Berkeley in 2016 to teach students to mine social media for potential human rights violations and war crimes today is producing a new generation of human rights investigators — and they’re being scooped up by employers including Amnesty International, The New York Times, the BBC and the International Criminal Court.”
human rights
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant’: Clooney, Microsoft unveil TrialWatch app (Digital Trends)
Digital Trends: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant’: Clooney, Microsoft unveil TrialWatch app. “CFJ’s TrialWatch program, which formally launched this year, aims to monitor trials around the world that pose a high risk of human rights violations: trials that oppress vulnerable groups, silence speech, or target political opponents. Through the program, a small group of trial lawyers and activists are trained to report on legal proceedings, boiling a trial down to a series of facts that can be easily recorded and ultimately compared.The new app augments the ability of TrialWatch’s monitors, making it easier to document happenings in a courtroom.”
About Manchester: New website launched to explore Peterloo
About Manchester: New website launched to explore Peterloo. “A new website… has been launched that will interactively explore the events and legacy of thePeterloo Massacre 200 years after this watershed moment in Britain’s democracy. Using detailed 3D imagery the user is placed in St Peter’s Field so that they can see how events unfolded when 60,000 people gathered in Manchester on 16 August 1819 seeking rights and representation.”
Bloomberg: Putin Wants His Own Internet
Bloomberg: Putin Wants His Own Internet. “When anti-government protests erupted on Russia’s side of the Caucasus Mountains in October, authorities did something they’d never done before: cut mobile internet service to an entire geographical area.”
Kurdistan24: Iraq cybercrime law would ‘severely undermine’ free speech, say rights groups
Kurdistan24: Iraq cybercrime law would ‘severely undermine’ free speech, say rights groups. “In a joint letter released on Friday, several Iraqi and international human rights and media organizations strongly urged the parliament in Baghdad to withdraw, or make significant critical changes to, a controversial internet bill now before it.”
Quartz: Uganda’s social media tax has led to a drop in internet and mobile money users
Quartz: Uganda’s social media tax has led to a drop in internet and mobile money users. “Uganda’s social media tax has proved to be detrimental to both its internet and mobile money sectors. In the three months following the introduction of the levy in July 2018, there was a noted decline in the number of internet users, total revenues collected, as well as mobile money transactions. In a series of tweets, the Uganda Communications Commission noted internet subscription declined by more than 2.5 million users, while the sum of taxpayers from over-the-top (OTT) media services decreased by more than 1.2 million users.”
New Delhi Times: Zimbabwe Activists Push Back on Social Media Restrictions
New Delhi Times: Zimbabwe Activists Push Back on Social Media Restrictions. “In Zimbabwe, rights and opposition groups are surviving by using social media to communicate with the masses as state-owned media remain reserved for ruling party officials. During recent anti-government protests, the public received information through social media and now the government wants a law to block such platforms.”
