Protecting Human Rights with Flip Video and YouTube May 20, 2009

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/05/04/Spotlighting_Human_Rights_Digital_Photography_and_Video

Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm, Executive Director of WITNESS, describes which advancing technologies are increasing the effectiveness of human rights advocacy. She foresees new technologies like video equipped cell phones and pocket camcorders greatly affecting the future of human rights.

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Recent innovations in science and technology have provided human rights advocates, journalists, and scientists with new tools to expose war crimes and other serious violations of human rights and to disseminate this information in real time throughout the world. The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley is pleased to showcase these recent developments and push new frontiers of applied research.

The Soul of the New Machine conference gathered leading thinkers and practitioners to share best practices and develop new strategies for incorporating technology to address human rights abuses. - Human Rights Center, UC-Berkeley

Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm is Executive Director of WITNESS, the international human rights organization that opens the eyes of the world to human rights. WITNESS empowers people to use video and online technologies to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change. She is an attorney with nearly two decades of experience in media and new technologies. Prior to joining WITNESS, she served as Executive Vice President of Content Strategy & Acquisition at Joost, the global online video platform formed by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype and Kazaa. Previously, Alberdingk Thijm spent more than a decade at MTV Networks International (MTVNI) and was instrumental in its international growth and forays into new media. Alberdingk Thijm also served on the Advisory Board of Lioness, a documentary about five female soldiers in Iraq. She is currently spearheading WITNESS innovation strategies with projects like the Hub (http://hub.witness.org), the online global channel for human rights.