open source evidence

Open source evidence refers to media that is gathered from social media, or other informal platforms, in contrast to conventional sources such as investigators or journalists. It is used especially in human rights cases where official gathering of evidence is diffiuclt or impossible, especially close to the time of an incident. Open source evidence often has problems of provenance, as those creating it may need to be anonymous, and permanence, as there may be take-down notices or the graphic natire of the material may violate platform policies. AI has been used as part of the process of verifiying such evidence, for example identifying the time and place.