Human Rights in Age of Social Media, Big Data, and AI

In just a few years, digital technologies have allowed faster mobilization in response to humanitarian crises, better documentation of war crimes in conflict zones like Syria and Yemen, and more accessible platforms for organizing peaceful demonstrations around the world. However, while social media and big data can be a powerful tool for anticipating, analyzing, and responding to human rights concerns, these technologies also pose unprecedented challenges. Social media has been weaponized to spread disinformation, interfere in elections, and promote and incite violence. And websites and apps are continuously collecting broad swaths of data on their users— often without them being aware of it, or of how or where their personal information is being used or stored. A recent symposium at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, organized by the Academies’ Committee on Human Rights, brought together leading experts on human rights and technology for an-depth exploration of these issues.Read More
Source: News from the National Academies - Category: Science Source Type: news