DW recently introduced a new media verification platform, Truly.Media, that enables media producers and civil society groups to quickly verify news reports circulating on social media. The platform was developed in partnership with the Greek software development company Athens Technology Center (ATC).

Truly.Media’s first major client is the world’s leading human rights advocacy group,  Amnesty International (AI).

“When inconvenient truths prompt public officials to cry ‘fake news’, or when content posted on social media purports to show something it doesn’t, Amnesty International needs to be ready to respond, based on rigorous, methodical research and verification methods,” said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director, in a statement on AI’s website.

When important news stories go viral on social media, there is a flood of information that is not always accurate, or even worse, manipulated. Truly.Media works by enlisting teams of journalists and editors, along with automation tools, to verify information in real time.

It was recently introduced to the European Parliament in Brussels, where Members of Parliament welcomed it as an impressive tool that will have real benefits for poltical discourse. As the platform shows positive results with AI, more clients are sure to follow.

Truly.Media has been in development since 2016, and was produced with the support of the innovation fund from the Google Digital News Initiative and EU research financing.

Out of all the recent sacrifices made in the name of freedom of speech, the tribulations of the Saudi Arabian activist Raif Badawi poignantly exemplify the precarious condition of free speech in some parts of the world today. This year Badawi is the recipient of the first DW Freedom of Speech Award, which is being presented by DW in conjunction with “The Bobs- Best of Online Activism” awards.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 and charged with insulting Islam through electronic channels via his website, Free Saudi Liberals, which provided a public forum for social criticism in Saudi Arabia.  In May 2014 Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes to be carried out 50 at a time for 20 weeks. He was publically flogged 50 times in January. It is feared that he will die if subjected to the full extent of his sentence.

With this award, DW is actively taking part in the international protest against the treatment Badawi is receiving simply for publicizing his opinion. Amnesty International  has started a campaign calling for his immediate release. On social media , supporters have gathered around the hashtag , #iamraif. A group of academics and social activists from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom even offered to each take 100 of the lashes that would have been administered to Badawi rather than “stand by and watch him be cruelly tortured.”

Badawi will be regognized by DW at The Bobs awards ceremony during the 2015 Global Media Forum in Bonn on June 23.

The values of liberal democracy are firmly rooted in freedom of expression and information. These vital pillars of society however need to be protected as technology shifts the channels of information and new methods of control are applied. The current state of these fundamental rights in the digital world is on the agenda at the 2014 Global Media Forum.

The international human rights organization, Amnesty International, in cooperation with the German Institute for Human Rights, will cover these issues in a talk titled An ice age for privacy? The rights to free speech, information and privacy versus mass surveillance. The discussion will emphasize how privacy of information is essential to preserving freedom of expression by looking at examples such as Edward Snowden blowing the whistle on the NSA’s digital surveillance and exposing institutional violations of privacy. The talk also explores how to protect the media and whistleblowers and how much privacy must be exchanged in the name of security.

Reporters Without Borders will host a discussion on how digital technology enables journalists to reach sources and gather news more effectively while at the same time endangering their ability to keep that information secure. The talk titled strengthening freedom of information and source protection worldwide, will highlight methods used by journalists to protect their information while analyzing the motivations of so-called “enemies of the Internet”, who use digital technology for censorship rather than the diffusion of information.

Blogs have grown from being an informal method of online expression into a real force in sharing information, especially outside traditional channels which in certain cases are censored and controlled. In a talk hosted by IREX Europe titled The rise of citizen journalism and its impact on traditional journalism in Russia, the state of the blogosphere will be analyzed with a focus on Russian bloggers. Special emphasis will be placed on the Internet as a “digital battlefield” with new laws being used to restrict online freedom of information as online activists fight to be heard.

Next week we will look at selected examples of specific techniques and technologies that are being used in digital media and journalism.

DW wants to help create a platform for dialogue about human rights and globalization with new programming and content in 30 languages. This multimedia project, Human Rights 2011, is a reflection of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, which is taking place from June 20-22, 2011 in Bonn. The conference’s topic this year is “Human Rights and Globalization – Challnges for the Media”.

The multimedia project on human rights 2011 will examine modern basic needs like the right to work, food and housing. Unique reports and features shed light on individual stories from around the world – whether that be rising prices and famine in Senegal, drug-dealing gangs in Colombia and dangerous jobs in India.

Special insights are provided from human rights experts like Monika Lüke, the Secretary General from Amnesty International in Germany and John Rugie, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

Find out more about Human Rights 2011.

Or check out the line-up for this year’s Global Media Forum.

As part of thie year's Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, DW has organized a photo competition in association with Amnesty International. Internet users and fans now have the opportunity to vote for their favorites and select the 30 finalists – which will be shown at the Global Media Forum in Bonn from June 20-22.

"Klick! – Your View of Human Rights and Globalization" was open to professional and hobby photographers from around the world.

Go to the Facebook page for the Global Media Forum to vote!