We are hiring a Programmatic Communications Coordinator to lead our U.S. regional communications work. The Communications Coordinator, as part of the U.S. team, will create digital assets and communications strategies, build up our newest social media channels, engage with organizers on the ground to uplift their voices and calls to action through our platforms, and create regional content for WITNESS’ global digital engagement campaigns. The ideal candidate will have a passion for telling/sharing other people’s stories, experience with grassroots organizing, basic/intermediate knowledge of video editing for social media platforms, and a great ability to adapt content and language for our audiences. The ideal candidate will have experience in the climate and land rights movement spaces as this is a large focus of our work.

ABOUT WITNESS

We are a global human rights organization, a collective of passionate human rights activists with remote team members all over the world. WITNESS’ mission is to help people use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. We are a 50 person multi-disciplinary team with staff based across 5 continents. We are registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit in the U.S, but with staff members (as well as consultants, interns, fellows and a vast community of partners and collaborators) based around the world and reflect a group of activists with diverse skills and backgrounds.

WHAT WE DO

WITNESS pairs grassroots community support with advocacy at a systems level. Our team works holistically on a global scale to understand how communities are using and want to use video and technology for human rights.  With a cellphone camera, anyone can become a human rights defender and expose injustice, making it harder for perpetrators to hide or for systems of oppression to remain invisible.  But using video for community organizing, justice and accountability can be dangerous – videos can put defenders (or those they film) at risk, can be used against communities in court or deceitfully discredited by tired old power narratives.  Filming is almost never enough – for videos to make a difference they need to work alongside strong advocacy or legal strategies; they also need to be created, preserved, and shared in ways that avoid creating more harm or trauma.

New threats to human rights are emerging at the intersection of artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation, and a global wave of rising authoritarianism. When it comes to systemic challenges we are on the watch for both existing problems – like how large amounts of critical human rights footage are lost because of the arbitrary decisions of platforms – but also emerging threats and opportunities, such as those posed by ‘deepfakes’, new ways to manipulate media to make it look like someone said or did something they never did.

WITNESS 2021 Year in Review

ABOUT THE TEAM

The WITNESS United States Program supports activists, grassroots organizations, advocates, and legal experts across the U.S. to better utilize video and technology to expose abuses, create counter-narratives, and fight for accountability, and advocate for change. Currently, our work is focused on (but not limited to) ending state violence through the thematic areas of police accountability, decarceration, immigrant and Indigenous rights, and land defense. To address these issues, we engage in partnerships, provide workshops and develop training resources that touch on everything from documenting human rights violations to effective and ethical storytelling, to holistic digital security practices. Last year, the U.S./Brazil/Latin America & Caribbean WITNESS teams designed a cross-regional strategy in Abya Yala (the Americas) centering youth and Indigenous fights to protect the land and waters using video strategies and technology in the context of the climate crisis. This is a new model for WITNESS programs and the U.S. Programmatic Communications Coordinator will play an integral role in supporting the sharing of knowledge, lessons learned, and the creation of related WITNESS resources and the strategic distribution.

We are seeking a United States Programmatic Communications Coordinator to amplify the work of WITNESS U.S. team through social media, traditional media outlets, and other online and offline settings, such as trainings and webinars. The Communications Coordinator will support the strategic creation, design, and dissemination of WITNESS resources and training guides. They will also oversee rapid response initiatives and develop and maintain quality relationships with respected media contacts and movement builders. The ideal candidate will also have a passion and knowledge of youth-led movements in the intersection of the thematic areas we focus on, as well as a practice in creating social media strategies that incorporate short-form video in social media platforms (IG + TikTok, other). The Communications Coordinator will employ creative approaches to boost engagement and share lessons across interrelated movements in the U.S. and across WITNESS’ programmatic work in Latin America, the Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES

Communications & Training Resource Development

• In collaboration with the U.S. Programs Manager and the Global Engagement team, develop and implement WITNESS U.S.’s social media strategy, including plans that leverage social media and support key organizations, advocates, and citizen witnesses to adopt video in their efforts to expose & document human rights violations and promote change
• Manage the day-to-day handling of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. adapting content to suit different channels. Respond to communication-related issues in a timely manner.
• Envision, plan strategy, and launch the U.S. Instagram account in collaboration with the U.S. Programs Manager and Global Engagement team.
• Creatively engage audiences in the different platforms through live conversations that build on and amplify the work of our partners and networks  (i.e: IG Lives, Twitter spaces, other).
• Produce graphics, create derivatives and content for social media, newsletters (Mailchimp), the WITNESS blog, and websites (WordPress).
• Lead on identifying and engaging with external designers and translators, as needed;
• Gather, assess, and evaluate the impact of resource creation and distribution campaigns (including metrics, anecdotes, etc.).
• Coordinate the collection of all monthly metrics on a timely basis, and contribute to the analysis and reflection of those indicators.
• Identify opportunities and develop strategies for rapidly responding to moments of crisis with relevant resources and support (i.e. mass protests, mobilizations around Indigenous land rights)
• Identify gaps and needs and support the creation and/or tailoring of relevant resources. Research and evaluate the latest trends that include the use of video evidence and counter-narratives on the continent in order to be able to activate a surge response where necessary.

• Ensure that both internal and external resources uphold WITNESS’ values and adhere to organizational standards and requirements.
• Collaborate with other social media leads in the other regions where WITNESS operates in order to advance the realization of WITNESS’ goals, objectives, and global campaigns.

Engagements and Administrative Support 

• Provide support and guidance to partners implementing strategies for enhancing the use of video and tech in their work, create feedback loops to learn from successes and challenges;
• In collaboration with WITNESS’ United States Program Manager, develop strategies to foster and maintain key relationships and explore opportunities for deeper engagements and projects around using video and tech in the relevant programmatic priorities;
• Undertake necessary administrative functions with respect to communications for the United States region, such as submitting engagement-related expenses and managing budgets.

Works Closely With:

• US Programs Manager (supervisor)
• US Programs Assistant
• Global Digital Engagement team
• Regional Communications Coordinators
• Regional Managers
• Video4Earth team
• All Staff

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate will have a passion for human rights, experience with content creation for movement spaces, and a great ability to speak/connect to the communities we work with through social media.

Experience:  Background in (or passion for) human rights; committed to social justice and WITNESS’ values/mission. Knowledge of grassroots and movement-building in North America (and the Americas is a plus).

Work Experience: A minimum of 3-5 years of experience working in human rights, advocacy, social justice, video for change, grassroots and youth organizing, or other related fields, and with a demonstrated capacity to think creatively and effectively about engagement and advocacy. Must have 2-3 years of experience creating content for social media platforms and a demonstrated ability to engage with those audiences.

Human Rights and Racial Justice: A demonstrated commitment to racial justice, in the intersection of gender justice and human rights. Believes in the importance of long-term movement-building, and knows the work takes time.

Characteristics: Highly organized, pays close attention to detail, and has a defined workflow to organize social media campaigns and weekly content creation. Demonstrated record of dynamism and self-starter. Strong interpersonal skills and aptitude for cross-cultural communication. Team-minded. Is organized and follows through.

Education: You can tell us about your degrees, but we’re more interested in your passions and what you can do. If degrees are part of that story, great! (But no formal education required). We are looking for someone who has experience creating content on social media, particularly keeping up with Instagram’s various features such as Reels. Basic knowledge of video production/editing for social media platforms is required.

Languages: We are a global team who uses English as our shared language, as such this role requires a high proficiency of written and spoken English. Additional languages are a plus. Being a native speaker of English is not required.

Platforms: We are looking for someone who has experience creating on social media platforms, particularly with Instagram Reels. Speaks Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, WordPress, YouTube, and GIF natively. Experience with social media data analysis and reporting. Knows how to take advantage of the creative possibilities for content creation using CANVA and/or other accessible graphic design platforms for social media use. Basic knowledge of video production/editing is paramount

Other Important Skills:

• Strong digital design eye, including creating powerful, political visual messages and editing for digital platforms that spark change;
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite including graphics creation and image, video editing skills, including Indesign, Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator; or any other relevant graphic and video editing softwares.
• Web publishing skills, knowledge of basic HTML and CSS, strong understanding of UX and front-end design;
• Digital archiving skills, digital security and privacy know-how, knowledge and use of Creative Commons licensing;
• Photography and/or filming skills;
• Demonstrated flexibility and ability to effectively work as a part of a team, open to giving and receiving constructive feedback;
• Exceptional organizational skills, including an ability to manage multiple priorities and keep track of details;
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills;
• Experience with non-profit design strategy;
• Advanced proficiency with Google worksuite as Gdocs, sheets, forms are heavily used across WITNESS.
• Experience as an educator or workshop facilitator, and in creating learning materials is a big plus.

Location: We are a globally distributed, remote workforce. This is a full-time position, and the location is flexible with a preference for a candidate based in the United States. As a globally distributed workforce, some consideration would be given to candidates being able to have some overlap of working hours with the rest of the team. At this time, our team members are working through hybrid office arrangements, combining remote at-home work with intermittent use of offices and/or co-working spaces.

Typically, we can only consider applicants who are already legally able to work in the country in which the role is based. Visa sponsorship or relocation allowance are rare, and offered only for specialized positions. The successful candidate must have the legal right-to-work in the location in which they will be based.

Compensation:  WITNESS operates a salary localisation policy using a combination of regularly reviewed FX and salary adjustment multipliers for location.

Based on current rates, annual gross salaries for some of our current locations are given as an example:

• New York City – USD 55,100

Benefits:

• Health: WITNESS also offers competitive and robust medical benefits that cover an individual’s medical, dental and vision at 100% and covers a percentage of the individual’s dependents.
• Life Insurance & AD&D: WITNESS provides life insurance and AD&D payable at one time (1x)  the employee’s salary, to the beneficiary, in the event an employee were to expire while employed by the organization.
• Remote Work Stipend: WITNESS recognizes that flexible working arrangements are key to equity and inclusion in the workplace and we provide a $175 USD monthly remote work allowance, we are happy to talk about the type of flexible arrangements that might work best for you. This remote work stipend is provided to all staff members to pay for extra equipment, electricity, stationery, internet, wellness,  or whatever an employee deems necessary in order to work remotely. Please note that a computer and basic accessories are provided to all employees at the time of hire.
• Pension Contributions: After 1 year of service at the organization, WITNESS will contribute 3% of an individual’s gross salary towards a global retirement fund.
• Paid Time Off: WITNESS has a range of paid time off types that support our staff.
  • Vacation leave: that meets local statutory levels or 15 days whichever is higher, in addition to staff’s local public holidays.
    • The vacation allowance increases by 5 days to 20 days after 3 years of service.
  • Personal / Wellness leave: 5 days staff can use at any time to recharge in recognition of the importance of supporting positive mental well being.
  • End of Year closure: which usually is equivalent to a minimum of 5 days leave in addition to any public holidays across the last week of December and early January.
  • Sick Leave: follows local statutory guidance however;
    • WITNESS ensures a minimum of 10 days paid time off for occasional sickness and health related absences.
    • A minimum of 6 weeks of full pay in instances of longer term absence.
  • Sabbatical Leave: At the 10 year mark we offer staff 10 weeks of paid time off in order to take a break, gain new insights and expand their horizons.
• Work/ Life Balance: WITNESS believes in creating a healthy work environment in which  flexible schedules are available, we also understand that sometimes an employee may just require a few hours to take care of personal issues in which case they can adjust their hours to make up for the time instead of taking a full day of leave. Both are allowable once agreed upon with the departmental supervisors.
• Mental Health Policy: WITNESS feels that all employees should feel supported both physically as well as mentally while they are at work and realizes that many times the issues that we deal with, the materials that we watch and the events surrounding some of the work that we do, can lead to feeling “unwell” and not in a “good space”. Should a situation arise in which an Employee requests support on mental health, WITNESS will award (10) days of “WITNESS” paid leave.
• Professional Development: In support of the growth and development of our staff, WITNESS regularly seeks opportunities for professional development, exposure to new skills and supports a culture of learning.
  • As part of this we offer staff Reading Days (1 day per month) where staff can take a day to read, study and connect more deeply with peers, partners and colleagues to further functional knowledge relevant to their role or deepen their general understanding and ability to support human rights work.

HOW TO APPLY

If you are interested in joining the WITNESS team, please apply through BambooHR. You will need to attach your resume, cover letter, and contact information for 3 references.

In your cover letter, we are interested in hearing about what you’ve done, how you match the position requirements, and why you’d like to join WITNESS.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  Applications accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled; early applications encouraged. Please note that due to the volume anticipated, we will not be able to respond individually to each applicant.  We kindly ask that you do not send duplicate applications via mail or email, and no phone calls.

WITNESS is a global human rights organization and aims to build an inclusive workforce that is reflective of the communities we work with. We are interested in building a talented team that brings their true selves with diverse backgrounds, cultures and perspectives. We are interested in receiving applications from those who are marginalized and underrepresented.

WITNESS is an equal opportunity employer. People of all ages, races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, genders, gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, and individuals protected by any other statuses under international federal, state or local laws, including but not limited to, disability, marital, domestic partnership, familial, caregiver, transgender, military or veteran statuses, are encouraged to apply.

For further discussion on these issues see our recent post: Truth, Lies and Social Media Accountability in 2021: A WITNESS Perspective on Key Priorities

Summary

WITNESS, an international human rights organization helping people use video and technology notes:

*All of our comments are in the light of the fact that the powers to push Facebook on policy change, on product/technical infrastructure change, on global resourcing and on Facebook’s response to extralegal political pressures globally have not been granted to Oversight Board. 

*Public figures need greater scrutiny, not less. Account suspension was correct.

*Public interest exceptions should apply to vulnerable speakers, not those in power with speech options

*Preservation of critical speech and content can be achieved via evidence lockers

*Off-platform context and dangerous speech principles are critical to making decision, not optional

*Facebook’s rules are not clear to ordinary people:  they suffer from inconsistency in application, bias and lack of appeal. 

*Global enforcement requires: far greater contextual understanding, including beyond majority elites as well as resourcing to moderation/for civil society globally and support to content moderation workers. It requires insulation from domestic extralegal pressures that compromise Facebook in countries around world.

Our Submission

WITNESS (witness.org) is an international human rights organization that helps people use video and technology to promote and defend human rights notes. We work with human rights organizations, social movements and individual witnesses in over 100 countries who engage in human rights-based activity on Facebook’s platforms, and who face threats from abuse of Facebook’s platforms. 

Below we address questions raised by the Oversight Board.

However we first emphasize that to create an equitable, transparent and human rights-centered approach to content moderation requires power that has not been granted to the Oversight Board. To fully confront these questions requires from Facebook: a) A commitment to changes in overall policy b) Direct input from this decision-making into both product development and underlying technical infrastructure including algorithms c) A far more significant human and technical resourcing of/and attention to countries outside the US and Europe and to the needs, demands and harms to vulnerable populations in those countries and the US and Europe d) A concerted effort to insulate country-level Facebook staff and country-level decision-making from political influence and illegitimate government pressure.

 The OB asks: If Facebook’s decision to suspend President Trump’s accounts for an indefinite period complied with the company’s responsibilities to respect freedom of expression and human rights, if alternative measures should have been taken, and what measures should be taken for these accounts going forward:  More often than not, world leaders who incite violence and hatred online (and share harmful misinformation and disinformation) get away with it for too long. Human rights activists have consistently documented this in a range of global contexts, noting situations involving leaders in the USA, Brazil, India, and the Philippines. A decision to suspend former President Trump’s account is too late, not too early, as it was with other world leaders – e.g  Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar.  However, a clear, consistent, transparent process for providing warnings, for appropriately applying earlier temporary account suspensions or content removals, and ultimately for permanently suspending accounts — all with right of appeal — is important.  

The OB asks: How Facebook should treat the expression of political candidates, office holders, and former office holders, considering their varying positions of power, the importance of political opposition, and the public’s right to information: Facebook’s explicit provision of a newsworthiness for all politicians’ speech has provided cover for leaders to share false information or incite hate and for Facebook to act inconsistently. When it comes to incitement to hate, or sharing of harmful misinformation (for example on COVID-19), leaders should be subject to greater scrutiny when they push boundaries on platforms, not less.  Newsworthiness exceptions and related public interest protections for posts or speakers do have a place… in protecting critical evidence of rights violations and vulnerable speakers within the public sphere rather than leaders who have other options for public speech, and who have generally been given ‘the benefit of the doubt’. Considerations of protecting important information from an archival perspective can be fulfilled by preserving content that has been shared on the platform but not making it public via evidence lockers. 

The OB asks: How Facebook should assess off-Facebook context in enforcing its Community Standards, particularly where Facebook seeks to determine whether content may incite violence: Facebook should assess off-platform context if the genuine purpose of intervention is to prevent violence rather than provide policy loopholes for politicians to jump through, and  if the company is legitimately trying to enforce standards in accordance with human rights standards. This off-platform context provides information to help ascertain and be clear on the real-world impact of online speech, and whether this impact justifies curtailing that speech. This must be complemented with real-world resourcing and responsiveness to civil society globally, particularly of groups vulnerable to dangerous speech from a politician. The Dangerous Speech project provides excellent guidance on this approach.

The OB asks: The accessibility of Facebook’s rules for account-level enforcement (e.g. disabling accounts or account functions) and appeals against that enforcement: Facebook’s rules are not clear for ordinary people. For a decade WITNESS’s partners and human rights defenders around the world have complained about take-downs of accounts and content without clarity or with apparent bias. Facebook should be transparent about how decisions are made for both for leaders and ordinary users, and hew to human rights principles of proportionality, legitimacy and specificity rather than over-broad, inconsistent deplatforming. The Santa Clara Principles for content moderation and the recommendations of Professor David Kaye, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion in 2018 provide clear roadmaps, generally accepted within the human rights community for how to do this.

The OB asks: Considerations for the consistent global enforcement of Facebook’s content policies against political leaders, whether at the content-level (e.g. content removal) or account-level (e.g. disabling account functions), including the relevance of Facebook’s “newsworthiness” exemption and Facebook’s human rights responsibilities:  Consistent global enforcement is essential. This must be adequately resourced and with worker protections for vulnerable content moderation workers subject to trauma (see work of Professor Sarah Roberts). It must be done with a clear understanding of language and cultural context that is informed not only by majority elites in countries, but also by diversity and representation of historically marginalized communities in particular countries. Facebook must quickly act when policy decisions in particular countries are impacted by domestic political pressures outside of law or platform rules. Facebook must invest more money in content moderation and more resources in supporting global civil society advocates and entities who act as watchdogs. Otherwise rules will be applied consistently and reinforce trends to US and European exceptionalism in terms of content policy.

A newsworthiness exception should be far more applicable to protecting critical evidence of rights violations and vulnerable speakers within the public sphere, rather than leaders who have other options for public speech, and who have generally been given ‘benefit of the doubt’. Considerations of protecting important information from an archival perspective can be fulfilled by preserving content that has been shared on the platform but not making it public; these “evidence lockers” provide access to critical information for accountability purposes under privacy-preserving conditions. 

On Monday, September 14th, the WITNESS Media Lab hosted a panel on filming police violence at Civic Hall in Manhattan. From Baltimore to Rio, killings and brutality at the hands of police are at the center of public discussion. In case after case, videos eyewitnesses footage is exposing systemic abuse to wider audiences and resulting in increased media attention, public debate, and in some cases, a measure of justice.

So for victims and communities most affected by police abuse, is video the best hope for truth and accountability?

The event explored these questions bringing together leaders from the U.S. and Brazil who have used videos to expose police brutality, change the national conversation, and catalyze justice, often at great personal risk.

 The evening was moderated by Amy Goodman, journalist and host of Democracy Now!, and hosted by WITNESS Media Lab program manager Madeleine Bair.

Panelists included:

• Raull Santiago (@C_PapoReto) – Member of Papo Reto, a media collective from Rio de Janeiro
• Bina Ahmad (@BinaAhmadEsq) – Public defender and social justice attorney with the Legal Aid Society of NYC
• Kevin Moore (@WeCopWatch) – Baltimore WeCopWatch activist, filmed the arrest of Freddie Gray
• Thenjiwe McHarris (@ThenjiweTM) – Activist and co-founder of Blackbird

This panel was organized as part of the WITNESS Media Lab’s latest project on police violence and video in the United States. The full project can be found here.

A letter from the coalition to the FCC begins: “We write to applaud your decision to reclassify broadband under Title II of the U.S. Communications Act, a move that would finally treat broadband providers as common carriers, and require them to treat all content, applications and services equally, without discrimination. This move — which follows years of intense debate in the U.S. and abroad — is a signal to the world that Net Neutrality is essential to the growth of the global Internet.”

The groups signed onto the letter are all members of the Global Net Neutrality Coalition, which started in the fall and aims to enshrine net neutrality into law all over the world. It is a global coalition and a global issue, but at the moment these groups rightly have their eyes on what the US is set to do, because it is a decision that really matters. The US is home to the largest tech companies in the world and has an outsized policy influence globally, so it is important for the country to be a leader and a model when it comes to user rights and freedom online.

For WITNESS and the activists and citizen media creators we work with around the world, the open Internet has become a powerful and necessary tool in how our work gets created, shared, and acted on. That’s why we are proud to be a part of this coalition and excited to push for additional net neutrality victories worldwide. Look for more news and analysis to come from the Global Net Neutrality Coalition in the coming months.

To learn more about our advocacy to policy makers and technology companies visit this section of our website or our blog.

Featured image courtesy of Free Press.