skip to content

Sociology Research

 

On-going research by Dr Ella McPherson on how human rights NGOs use social media in fact-finding aims to have an impact on the understanding that policy makers, practitioners and the public have of what is at stake in evaluating digital information from civilian witnesses as evidence.      

What is the problem that this research aims to address?

Significant optimism exists about the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for boosting accountability.  This includes the pluralism of access to mechanisms of human rights accountability, namely the variety and volume of voices that receive attention from human rights institutions via these new ICTs.  In particular, the hope is that these ICTs, such as social media platforms, can amplify civilian witnesses’ voices in closed country or rapidly unfolding contexts – situations where, previously, a human rights fact-finder might only arrive during the aftermath, if at all.  Yet, McPherson’s ongoing research reveals that a bottleneck exists between civilian witnesses’ production and transmission of information and its use as human rights evidence.  This bottleneck is verification, or the cross-checking with other sources and methods that fact-finders undertake to test for truth.

The verification bottleneck has at least three causes: (1) fact-finders’ lack of literacy concerning digital verification practices; (2) fact-finders’ lack of time to undertake these practices; and (3) civilian witnesses’ lack of information literacy, with respect to what characteristics information must have to qualify as potential evidence.  Furthermore, this bottleneck is not egalitarian but may – in the context of limited fact-finder resources – disproportionately affect those with lower levels of information literacy and less of a digital footprint, which is one of the ways that fact-finders establish the credibility of a source.  In other words, the implication is that civilian witnesses with the least resources – those that may most need access to accountability mechanisms – may also be the least likely to be heard over ICTs.

What is the underpinning research?

These findings stem from McPherson’s ongoing ESRC- and Isaac Newton Trust-funded project on 'Social Media, Human Rights NGOs, and the Potential for Governmental Accountability.'  She received an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account grant to begin designing a web app, The Whistle, which aims to boost the pluralism of access to human rights mechanisms by supporting civilian witnesses in producing verifiable information and human rights fact-finders in the verification process.  The development of The Whistle is now funded by a Horizon 2020 grant, part of the ChainReact consortium, and is being worked on by a small team: Isabel Guenette Thornton (PhD candidate), Rebekah Larsen (PhD candidate), Matt Mahmoudi (MPhil candidate), and Dr Richard Mills (Research Associate).

What is the impact?

The key impact goals of this research are (1) to raise awareness of the emergent verification practices that can be used in evaluating civilian witness information for evidence; and (2) to support the pluralism of access to accountability mechanisms via ICTs by lowering the verification barrier.

To date, this has included providing evidence, together with Dr Anne Alexander (CRASSH, Cambridge), for a 2014 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into ‘social media data and real-time analytics.’  Together with Dr Thomas Probert (CGHR, Cambridge), McPherson provided research for the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions’ 2015 report on ‘Use of Information and Communication Technologies to Secure the Right to Life.’  Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns presented this report at the 29th session of the UN Human Rights Council. 

Resources relevant to this case study

Grants

McPherson, E. (PI), ‘Social Media, Human Rights NGOs, and the Potential for Governmental Accountability,’ ESRC Future Research Leader grant and Isaac Newton Trust, 2014-17.

McPherson, E. (PI), ‘The Whistle: A Digital Platform for Civilian Witness Reporting of Human Rights Violations,’ ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, 2015-16.

McPherson, E. (Cambridge PI, part of consortium), ‘ChainReact: Making Supplier Networks Transparent, Understandable and Responsive,’ EC Horizon 2020, 2016-19.

Publications

McPherson, E., 2015. Advocacy Organizations’ Evaluation of Social Media Information for NGO Journalism: The Evidence and Engagement Models. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(1), pp.124–148.

McPherson, E., 2015. Digital Human Rights Reporting by Civilian Witnesses: Surmounting the Verification Barrier. In R. A. Lind, ed. Produsing Theory in a Digital World 2.0: The Intersection of Audiences and Production in Contemporary Theory. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, pp. 193–209.

McPherson, E., 2015. ICTs and Human Rights Practice: A Report Prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Centre of Governance and Human Rights.

Impact evidence

Heyns, C., 2015. Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns: Use of information and communications technologies to secure the right to life, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2014. Responsible Use of Data, UK Parliament. 
 
 

Image: 'mobiles filming #acampadasol,' by Osvaldo Gago [CC BY-SA 2.0]