Tech We’re Using: How Syrians Pioneered Digital Tools to Stand Up to Authorities

But we journalists also use the same tools to steer the conversation and verify information, not just passively receive what people want to send us. From the start, we’ve combined online and in-person contact, meeting people online and seeing them in person later, or using social media to quietly keep in touch after meeting inside the country.

Using Skype or WhatsApp videos or photos, we can witness what a person is going through in real time. We can also ask them to show us their surroundings or send images of shrapnel or documents or locations, to bolster or debunk claims. We use reverse image search to make sure that photos and videos being shared online are not recycling old incidents. And with the help of colleagues, we can use geolocation to verify the time and location of photos and videos.

What are some of the biggest challenges of using these tech tools?

The number-one challenge is the security of witnesses and sources. Whether in the United States or in Syria, electronic communications cut two ways: They provide an avenue for a government’s surveillance to identify and/or locate the people struggling against it.

In Syria, the government chose not to block Facebook and other platforms; it used those networks to track activists and the relationships among them. People have been arrested and tortured for their social media posts, or even a “like” on someone else’s comment, and private messages are often hacked and tapped. So we are constantly looking for safer means of communication.

How do you use technology differently in Beirut than you did in the United States?

Technology is more of a lifeline here as I communicate with family, friends, colleagues and sources around the world, with video and audio apps a cheaper and clearer alternative to subpar cellphone connections. And Facebook and WhatsApp groups are an easy way to share photos and feel more in touch.

But it’s also frustrating, limited by slow internet speeds. I work with colleagues on amazing visual multimedia projects that I and many residents in the region are unable to view fully because we literally don’t have the bandwidth to load and run them efficiently.

I also have become a devotee of podcasts during my time here, since they’re the best way to get the radio broadcasts I like to listen to back home. It’s also invaluable to catch up on the global and Mideast news in the morning without looking at a screen — while walking, or working out.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/technology/personaltech/syria-war-digital-tools.html?partner=rss&emc=rss