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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria is among four other universities across the world working with Amnesty International on its cutting-edge volunteer project Digital Verification Corps (DVC). Coordinated by Sam Dubberley, the DVC was created to equip students to subsequently support the work of Amnesty International’s researchers, who are often confronted with overwhelming volumes of unverified social media content in connection with some form of human rights abuse.  

The students are tasked with the responsibility of using advanced tools to determine what a piece of video purports to say and if it is authentic, reliable and trustworthy. Amnesty International then uses the conclusion from the verification process to trigger further investigation and hold the relevant perpetrators of human rights violations to account.

Currently working on the DVC project are students from the University of California, Berkeley, University of Essex, University of Toronto, University of Cambridge and the University of Pretoria. In addition to the geographic spread of these universities, the student volunteers are also multi-disciplinary with backgrounds in law, sociology, anthropology, international relations and more. This rich blend is an added benefit to the work of the DVC as it ensures that every task is approached through diverse human lenses.
 
In these times when the world is confronted with many unresolved conflicts and a staggering volume of visual evidence spreading through social media, this group of digital verifiers are putting their heart into ensuring that every victim of human rights violation receives justice. 

Video by Adebayo Okeowo to highlight the impact of the DVC’s work since its inception in 2016.
 
 
For more information about the DVC in Pretoria, please contact:

Mr Adebayo Okeowo
Advocacy Coordinator
Centre for Human Rights 
University of Pretoria
 

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