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Yvette Alberdingk Thijm: The power of citizen video to create undeniable truths
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Could smartphones and cameras be our most powerful weapons for social justice? Through her organization Witness, Yvette Alberdingk Thijm is developing strategies and technologies to help activists use video to protect and defend human rights. She shares stories of the growing power of distant witnesses -- and a call to use the powerful tools at our disposal to capture incidents of injustice.
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm - Human rights activist
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm helps activists use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. Full bio
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm helps activists use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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It's 1996
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in Uvira in eastern Congo.
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This is Bukeni.
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Militia commanders walk into his village,
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knock on his neighbors' doors
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and whisk their children away
to training camps.
to training camps.
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Bukeni borrows a video camera
from a local wedding photographer,
from a local wedding photographer,
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he disguises as a journalist
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and he walks into the camps
to negotiate the release of the children.
to negotiate the release of the children.
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He filmed footage of the children
being trained as soldiers.
being trained as soldiers.
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[Soldiers don't worry!]
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[You'll wear uniforms!]
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[You'll have free cars!]
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[Free beans!]
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Many of these children
are under 15 years old,
are under 15 years old,
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and that is a war crime.
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[Free!]
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But you don't have to go to eastern Congo
to find human rights abuses.
to find human rights abuses.
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In America, a country
with a rapidly aging population,
with a rapidly aging population,
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experts estimate
that one in 10 people over 60
that one in 10 people over 60
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will experience abuse.
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It's a hidden epidemic,
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and most of that abuse
actually happens at the hands
actually happens at the hands
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of close caretakers or family.
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This is Vicky.
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Vicky put an iron gate on her bedroom door
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and she became a prisoner,
in fact, in her own house,
in fact, in her own house,
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out of fear for her nephew
who had taken over her home as a drug den.
who had taken over her home as a drug den.
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And this is Mary.
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Mary picked up a video camera
for the first time in her life
for the first time in her life
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when she was 65 years old,
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and she asked Vicky
and 99 other older people
and 99 other older people
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who had experienced abuse
to tell their stories on camera.
to tell their stories on camera.
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And I am Dutch,
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so in the Netherlands
we are obsessed with the truth.
we are obsessed with the truth.
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Now, when you are a child,
that's a great thing,
that's a great thing,
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because you can basically
get away with anything,
get away with anything,
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like "Yes, Mama,
it was me who smoked the cigars."
it was me who smoked the cigars."
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(Laughter)
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But I think this is why
I have dedicated my life
I have dedicated my life
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to promoting citizen video
to expose human rights violations,
to expose human rights violations,
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because I believe in the power of video
to create undeniable truths.
to create undeniable truths.
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And my organization, WITNESS,
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helped use the Congolese videos
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to help convict and send a notorious
warlord called Thomas Lubanga to jail.
warlord called Thomas Lubanga to jail.
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And the videos that Mary shot,
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we trained Mary and many other
elder justice advocates,
elder justice advocates,
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to make sure that
the stories of elder abuse
the stories of elder abuse
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reached lawmakers,
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and those stories
helped convince lawmakers
helped convince lawmakers
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to pass landmark legislation
to protect older Americans.
to protect older Americans.
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So I wonder,
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billions of us now have this powerful tool
right at our fingertips.
right at our fingertips.
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It's a camera.
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So why are all of us not a more
powerful army of civic witnesses,
powerful army of civic witnesses,
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like Mary and Bukeni?
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Why is it that so much more video
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is not leading to more rights
and more justice?
and more justice?
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And I think it is because
being an eyewitness is hard.
being an eyewitness is hard.
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Your story will get denied,
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your video will get lost
in a sea of images,
in a sea of images,
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your story will not be trusted,
and you will be targeted.
and you will be targeted.
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So how do we help witnesses?
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In Oaxaca, in Mexico,
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the teachers' movement organized a protest
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after the president pushed down
very undemocratic reforms.
very undemocratic reforms.
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The federal police came down in buses
and started shooting at the protesters.
and started shooting at the protesters.
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At least seven people died
and many, many more were wounded.
and many, many more were wounded.
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Images started circulating
of the shootings,
of the shootings,
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and the Mexican government
did what it always does.
did what it always does.
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It issued a formal statement,
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and the statement basically
accused the independent media
accused the independent media
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of creating fake news.
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It said, "We were not there,
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that was not us doing the shooting,
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this did not happen."
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But we had just trained
activists in Mexico
activists in Mexico
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to use metadata strategically
with their images.
with their images.
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Now, metadata is the kind of information
that your camera captures
that your camera captures
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that shows the date, the location,
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the temperature, the weather.
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It can even show the very unique way
you hold your camera
you hold your camera
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when you capture something.
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So the images started recirculating,
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and this time with the very verifying,
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validating information on top of them.
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And the federal government
had to retract their statement.
had to retract their statement.
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Now, justice for the people for Oaxaca
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is still far off,
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but their stories, their truths,
can no longer be denied.
can no longer be denied.
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So we started thinking:
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What if you had "Proof Mode?"
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What if everybody had
a camera in their hands
a camera in their hands
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and all the platforms
had that kind of validating ability.
had that kind of validating ability.
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So we developed --
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together with amazing Android developers
called the Guardian Project,
called the Guardian Project,
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we developed something called
a technology that's called Proof Mode,
a technology that's called Proof Mode,
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that marries those metadata
together with your image,
together with your image,
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and it validates
and it verifies your video.
and it verifies your video.
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Now, imagine there is a deluge of images
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coming from the world's camera phones.
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Imagine if that information
could be trusted just a little bit more,
could be trusted just a little bit more,
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what the potential
would be for journalists,
would be for journalists,
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for human rights investigators,
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for human rights lawyers.
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So we started sharing Proof Mode
with our partners in Brazil
with our partners in Brazil
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who are an amazing media collective
called Coletivo Papo Reto.
called Coletivo Papo Reto.
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Brazil is a tough place for human rights.
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The Brazilian police
kills thousands of people every year.
kills thousands of people every year.
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The only time that
there's an investigation,
there's an investigation,
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guess when?
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When there's video.
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Seventeen-year-old Eduardo
was killed in broad daylight
was killed in broad daylight
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by the Rio police,
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and look what happens after they kill him.
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They put a gun in the dead boy's hand,
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they shoot the gun twice --
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(Shot)
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to fabricate their story of self-defense.
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The woman who filmed this
was a very, very courageous eyewitness,
was a very, very courageous eyewitness,
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and she had to go into hiding
after she posted her video
after she posted her video
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for fear of her life.
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But people are filming,
and they're not going to stop filming,
and they're not going to stop filming,
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so we're now working together
with media collectives
with media collectives
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so the residents on their WhatsApp
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frequently get guidance and tips,
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how to film safely,
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how to upload the video
that you shoot safely,
that you shoot safely,
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how to capture a scene
so that it can actually count as evidence.
so that it can actually count as evidence.
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And here is an inspiration
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from a group called Mídia Ninja in Brazil.
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The man on left is a heavily armed
military policeman.
military policeman.
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He walks up to a protester --
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when you protest in Brazil,
you can be arrested or worse --
you can be arrested or worse --
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and he says to the protester, "Watch me,
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I am going to search you right now."
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And the protester
is a live-streaming activist --
is a live-streaming activist --
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he wears a little camera --
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and he says to the military policeman,
he says, "I am watching you,
he says, "I am watching you,
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and there are 5,000 people
watching you with me."
watching you with me."
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Now, the tables are turned.
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The distant witnesses,
the watching audience, they matter.
the watching audience, they matter.
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So we started thinking,
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what if you could tap into that power,
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the power of distant witnesses?
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What if you could pull in
their expertise, their leverage,
their expertise, their leverage,
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their solidarity, their skills
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when a frontline community
needs them to be there?
needs them to be there?
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And we started developing
a project that's called Mobilize Us,
a project that's called Mobilize Us,
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because many of us, I would assume,
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want to help
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and lend our skills and our expertise,
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but we are often not there
when a frontline community
when a frontline community
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or a single individual faces an abuse.
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And it could be as simple
as this little app that we created
as this little app that we created
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that just shows the perpetrator
on the other side of the phone
on the other side of the phone
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how many people are watching him.
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But now, imagine that you could put
a layer of computer task routing
a layer of computer task routing
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on top of that.
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Imagine that you're a community
facing an immigration raid,
facing an immigration raid,
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and at that very moment,
at that right moment, via livestream,
at that right moment, via livestream,
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you could pull in
a hundred legal observers.
a hundred legal observers.
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How would that change the situation?
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So we started piloting this
with our partner communities in Brazil.
with our partner communities in Brazil.
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This is a woman called Camilla,
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and she was able -- she's the leader
in a favela called Favela Skol --
in a favela called Favela Skol --
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she was able to pull in distant witnesses
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via livestream
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to help translation,
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to help distribution,
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to help amplify her story
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after her community was forcibly evicted
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to make room for a very glossy
Olympic event last summer.
Olympic event last summer.
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So we're talking about good witnessing,
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but what happens
if the perpetrators are filming?
if the perpetrators are filming?
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What happens if a bystander films
and doesn't do anything?
and doesn't do anything?
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This is the story of Chrissy.
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Chrissy is a transgender woman
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who walked into a McDonald's in Maryland
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to use the women's bathroom.
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Two teens viciously beat her
for using that woman's bathroom,
for using that woman's bathroom,
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and the McDonald's employee
filmed this on his mobile phone.
filmed this on his mobile phone.
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And he posted his video,
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and it has garnered
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thousands of racist
and transphobic comments.
and transphobic comments.
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So we started a project
that's called Capturing Hate.
that's called Capturing Hate.
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We took a very, very small sample
of eyewitness videos
of eyewitness videos
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that showed abuse against transgender
and gender-nonconforming people.
and gender-nonconforming people.
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We searched two words,
"tranny fight" and "stud fight."
"tranny fight" and "stud fight."
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And those 329 videos were watched
and are still being watched
and are still being watched
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as we sit here in this theater,
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a stunning almost 90 million times,
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and there are hundreds of thousands
of comments with these videos,
of comments with these videos,
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egging on to more violence and more hate.
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So we started developing a methodology
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that took all that
unquantified visual evidence
unquantified visual evidence
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and turned it into data,
turning video into data,
turning video into data,
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and with that tool,
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LGBT organizations are now using that data
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to fight for rights.
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And we take that data
and we take it back to Silicon Valley,
and we take it back to Silicon Valley,
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and we say to them:
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"How is it possible
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that these videos are still out there
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in a climate of hate
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egging on more hate,
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summoning more violence,
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when you have policies that actually say
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you do not allow this kind of content? --
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urging them to change their policies.
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So I have hope.
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I have hope that we can turn more video
into more rights and more justice.
into more rights and more justice.
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Ten billion video views
on Snapchat,
on Snapchat,
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per day.
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So what if we could turn
that Snapchat generation
that Snapchat generation
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into effective and safe civic witnesses?
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What if they could become
the Bukenis of this new generation?
the Bukenis of this new generation?
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In India, women have already
started using Snapchat filters
started using Snapchat filters
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to protect their identity when they
speak out about domestic violence.
speak out about domestic violence.
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[They tortured me at home
and never let me go out.]
and never let me go out.]
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The truth is, the real truth, the truth
that doesn't fit into any TED Talk,
that doesn't fit into any TED Talk,
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is fighting human rights abuse is hard.
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There are no easy solutions
for human rights abuse.
for human rights abuse.
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And there's not a single
piece of technology
piece of technology
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that can ever stop the perpetrators.
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But for the survivors,
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for the victims,
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for the marginalized communities,
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their stories, their truths, matter.
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And that is where justice begins.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm - Human rights activistYvette Alberdingk Thijm helps activists use video and technology to protect and defend human rights.
Why you should listen
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm leads WITNESS.org, a global team of human rights activists who help anyone use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. WITNESS supports marginalized and vulnerable communities to expose their truths, counter harmful and abusive narratives, and mobilize their communities to build a just world. Yvette believes that right and power to tell your own story is where dignity, justice, and equality begins.
More profile about the speakerYvette Alberdingk Thijm | Speaker | TED.com