VERIFYING EYEWITNESS VIDEO: HOW TO VERIFY FOOTAGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE Value Of Eyewitness Video Videos taken by perpetrators, victims and witnesses of abuse can prompt news coverage, inform investigations, and support legal proceedings. In some cases, these videos are the only visual documentation of abuse and can shine a light on unknown or unconfirmed facts of a human rights violation. However, to use such videos effectively, analysts must verify whether a video is what it purports to be. This resource covers techniques and tools to help verify that a video found online or sent by a source can be trusted as an authentic recording of a particular event. Goal KEY PRINCIPLES Review each video with a dose of skepticism: It is easy and increasingly common to upload an old video to YouTube with a new title and description. Hoaxers and activists do so with the goal of leading reporters and viewers to believe that a video documents something it does not. Edited videos are more difficult to verify: Critical details could be missing, clips from different contexts could be compiled together, and added text, music, or graphics could also undermine the authenticity of the footage and/ or bias viewers. Try to find unedited footage of an incident, rather than a video comprised of several different clips edited together. Online videos often lack valuable metadata: When a phone or digital camera records video it creates metadata that may include information such as the date and time of the recording. However, when that same video file is uploaded to online platforms like YouTube or Twitter, those platforms create a derivative file that often lacks the original metadata. 100% verification is rarely possible: If the video is not received directly from a primary source, it may be impossible to completely verify the date, time, and location at which it was filmed. That is one reason online video is best used to supplement, not substitute, other forms of documentation and research. Not all videos can be verified: Not all videos sourced online will lend themselves to verification, even though they may well be authentic. If the video was taken in a closed, private location, or an empty field, there will be fewer visual clues that can help verify the location; if the video was uploaded by a third party to protect the anonymity of the filmer, it may be impossible to contact the original filmer and thus more difficult to verify. 172 VIDEO AS EVIDENCE: VERIFYING EYEWITNESS VIDEO V 2.0 SHARING Determine, to the highest degree possible, when and where a video was taken and that what it documents is authentic, so that news media, human rights advocates, investigators, analysts, lawyers and courts can trust the substance of the video and use it to piece together a full story about a human rights violation.