I usually write about all the things I did for the day at SXSW, but today I felt a little different. I want to focus on one panel because I felt like it was extremely important and was full of valuable information.

Also , it was day and I was in need of a mental day where I don’t do too much. So, I decided to take it easy today.

Defending the Defenders: Your Rights Online 

As we continue to be introduced to the latest advances in technology, we must never forget the simple importance of human rights, and always having them connected.

Defending the Defenders: Your Rights Online, moderated by Michael Samway with Nicole Karlebech, Peter Micek and Alex Walden, allowed for different people talk about how their companies are making sure the company adhere’s to protecting our rights, as well as, shining light on the various groups that exist that are available for people to utilize.

According to Samway, who is a professor at Georgetown University, it is becoming the norm that companies have the responsibility top respect human rights and is actually growing in popularity and also becoming good practice.

As the leader of Google’s work on free expression and human rights, Walden primarily spoke on Youtube, which of course is Google’s platform that is heavy on user content. One of the main examples that Walden gave was the instance that in the summer of 2017 there were reports that Youtube had taken down thousands of Syrian human rights videos that were actually uploaded by human rights defenders. Walden said that this is the kind of content that is wanted on Youtube and want people top be able to post videos of the things that the mainstream media is not reporting.

Walden said that it is becoming difficult to identify these types of videos because at a glance they look like violent videos, but in reality they are not and they educational videos with important information. She then closed her statement by saying that
context is really important” when it comes identifying these videos.

So, how does YouTube try and make sure these videos are not taken down? They are starting to change their review process of what videos are being uploaded to the cite. There is even a process that will allow activists to download there video and make amendments and then re-upload their videos.

Another important thing that Walden said was there needs to be transparent reporting, that way all of the individual utilizing YouTube will understand the rule and regulations that they may have.

Micek, who lead the Access Now policy team’s business and human rights work, gave great examples of how his company helps people fight for human rights. His example was about a doctor that was fighting the obesity problem in Mexico. Once the doctor made it clear about his passion, he would start to get text messages claiming that his daughter was injured and he need to click on a link. The doctor contacted Access Now and they were able to detect that the links were actually ways that a company could place malware on his phone.

Samway then asked Micek how his company promotes themselves to allow people to know about them and be able to get in contact with them. Micek said that since there is a such a great need for this kind of service, there is no need to have a big billboard or any kind of big ad campaign.

Micek also mentioned his company’s conference called “RightsCon” that will take place in Toronto. This allows for business leaders, general counsels, government representatives to gain experience with human rights in the digital age.

At the end, Samway said he had plenty of questions to asked, but wanted to let the audience steer the conversation.