Upload and Describe Your Media

To upload media, you will need to go to the upload page The Hub accepts a wide variety of image, audio and video files, including:

• AUDIO: mpeg audio, wav, mp3, quicktime, real
• VIDEO: avi, dv, mpeg 1,2,3, 4, flv, real video, quicktime
• IMAGE: jpg and gif

File Compression

Video files in particular can be extremely large, and therefore we recommend that you compress your video files before uploading them to the Hub. This is much less complicated than it sounds, and has two benefits – it means you use up less bandwidth and time when you are uploading your content, and it also takes up less space on your computer.

We will shortly be giving you a guide to compressing video files – but in the meantime, visit the Compression Clinic at fourdocs for guidance.

Video Embedding from Other Video-Sharing Websites

Many video-sharing sites provide a way for users to display videos on their own sites and blogs - you can also use this functionality, called "embedding", to display content on the Hub, if you have already uploaded your own content to another video-sharing site. To embed a piece of content from a third-party site such as YouTube or Google Video, you will need find and copy the embed code from that site. Once you have this code, go to the Upload page on the Hub, complete the upload form, and in the “Type of Media” pulldown, choose “embed content”. Then paste the embed code into the text box provided. Please be aware that if for any reason the video is removed from the original site you are embedding from, it will also disappear from the Hub.

How to Help People Find Your Media Easily

Through the Hub, you can classify your media by country, region and human rights issue, add detailed context to each media item, and tag each media item with keywords to help other Hub users find your media easily. The more context you provide, the easier your content will be to locate, and the better the quality of information on the site as a whole.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Provide a descriptive title. Example: "Rights On The Line: Immigration on the Mexico/US Border"

2. Provide detailed context. See this video for an example

3. Add tags to your media. For example: Mexico, USA, immigration, human rights, border, minutemen, discrimination

Click "Submit" on the form and your media will go to the Hub Team for review. You may track the status of your media, make changes to and manage all of your content through your My Account page in the top right toolbar throughout the site. If you have questions about the review process, you can read our Content Review Policy

Link Resources, Take Action Items and Events to Your Media

Once your media has been approved and is live on the site, you may add links so users can get more information, take action and participate in events related to your media.

Step 1: Click My Account in the top toolbar

Step 2: Choose the “Preferences” tab

Step 3: Enter the text you would like to appear next to your media in the text box, and enter the direct web link in the URL box to create a hyperlink from the Hub to that site

See an example of how this looks here.

Remember, you can always edit the content and links associated with your media at anytime through your My Account page.

Content Review Guidelines

The type of content we are looking for:

The Hub is a destination for video, audio and photographs that capture human rights violations, or that expose human rights abuses:

• Do you have personal testimony to share about when, how and where your human rights (or those of someone you know or have interviewed) have been violated?
• Do you have footage that shows a human rights violation that has taken place or is taking place (for example: an illegal arrest at a demonstration, a child being refused entry to a school based on religious belief; the ill-treatment of a detainee, a community denied access to clean water, or any other type of abuse) ?
• Do you have footage that demonstrates a remedy or solution that has been taken to address a particular human rights abuse?

Is there any human rights footage that might not be suitable for this site?

In short, yes. To ensure that WITNESS upholds the basic principles of human dignity, and to help minimize and prevent direct or indirect harm resulting from any footage, audio or imagery, careful consideration will be given to content:

• posing a significant risk to someone’s life or personal safety;
• representing a direct written or verbal incitement to violence or hate;
• containing pornographic nudity or sexual imagery;
• where the subject’s capacity for decision making or ability to give consent may be compromised, such as children (under 18), detainees/prisoners, and people with mental disabilities;
• featuring graphic violent imagery;
• that is discriminatory or intolerant on the grounds of ethnicity, race, gender, disability, national origin, sexual orientation or religion or is otherwise inappropriate;
• Content that risks re-victimizing the subject of the human rights violation.

Registered members of the Hub Community can flag any piece of media on the site that in their judgment contravenes the Hub’s Terms of Use, human rights standards or principles, or compromises the security of the subject or other party associated with the media item. Flagged content will get further scrutiny from the Hub team.

How does WITNESS guarantee that content uploaded to the Hub is authentic and accurate?

WITNESS cannot guarantee the authenticity or accuracy of any of the media featured on this site, but we are committed to building a Hub community that respects and upholds the following principles:

• Avoids uploading media that is misleading or contains falsehoods or misrepresentations;
• Upholds respect for personal dignity and autonomy;
• Minimizes risk to someone’s life or personal safety;
• Uses images that will not re-victimize those featured in the images but that help bring about justice for them as individuals;
• Uses media items that will contribute to bringing about a change in human rights policy and practice;
• Features community participants and videos that represent different parts of the world and cover a variety of human rights issues and perspectives;
• Contextualizes and interprets media from a human rights perspective.

We recognize that many members of the Hub Community bring significant expertise in their areas of specialization and deep knowledge of where they are based or where they work. We would encourage subject and area specialists, activists, video experts and trainers, and other Hub community participants with significant expertise and experience to contribute their knowledge where appropriate in helping to uphold these principles. If you have expertise or experience and would like to contribute a few hours a week to the Hub community, please email hub [at] witness.org.

Registered users in the Hub Community can flag any media item for a variety of reasons. Once a piece of media has been flagged a certain number of times, Hub staff will receive a notification to look at that media item, as will the user who uploaded the media item. We reserve the right to remove media that contravenes the Terms of Use agreement.

Things to Keep in Mind When Uploading Videos

1)What sorts of situations are depicted in the videos?

Is it an event or an interview? Who is in the video? Do you have their consent to disseminate and share the video? – is it ok that their identity is public? If not, how can you ensure the privacy and/or anonymity of the people depicted? (See editorial submission guidelines link)

2)What about your own personal safety?

Where do you live? Is Internet use monitored in your country? The Open Net Initiative, Reporters Without Borders and Internet Censorship Explorer are good resources for information about different types of censorship and monitoring in various countries around the world.

3) The Hub does a preliminary IP check to see which country you appear to be logging in from. If the location is a high-risk location, we will automatically recommend using the secure upload feature. Please note that the IP check is not 100% foolproof, but it will give you a good idea of what IP address is being linked to your session.

4) How much personal information are you giving out when registering for a video upload site? If possible, can you sign up for various online services anonymously, i.e. without using any personally identifiable information? We ask for the least possible personally identifying information and we do not share out information with any third party. If you consider yourself at risk but feel strongly that your media must be shared, consider using the Hub for sharing your media and avoiding commercial third parties.

5) Where are you using the Internet? In a café or other public space, or are you using it from home? You are more likely to leave information that can be used to identify you as an individual when using a public computer.

Although we are constantly working to find ways to ensure that the Hub poses the least potential risk for our users, keep in mind that ultimately it is your responsibility to keep yourself safe. If you have any further recommendations or suggestions, please contact us at hubsupport@witness.org