This document discusses how civic media can be used to bear witness through sharing information on social issues. It provides examples of how mobile phone imagery, social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and curation tools like Bundlr have been used to document human rights abuses, corruption, violence and racism in Sri Lanka. Specifically, it highlights how Groundviews has utilized these civic media tools to create an alternative historical record of events in Sri Lanka from 2012 by live tweeting and curating discussions on issues around war crimes allegations, reconciliation failures and more.

1. Bearing witness through civic media
Sanjana Hattotuwa
TED Fellow alumn
Founding Editor, www.groundviews.org

2. Mobile phone imagery
http://groundviews.org/2009/08/15/first-images-the-flooding-in-menik-camp-and-the-increasingly-dire-situation-for-
idps

3. Social witnessing
http://groundviews.org/2012/07/31/ganesan-nimalaruban-a-damning-murder-funeral-and-silence/

4. War crimes? Digital image forensics
http://groundviews.org/2011/07/02/photographic-evidence-of-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka-or-not/

5. Twitter for posterity
http://groundviews.org/2011/07/04/resource-book-for-historians-researchers-and-media-a-year-of-tweeting-from-
groundviews

6. A different history: April to July 2012
380+ pages, 3195 tweets on issues incl. war crimes
allegations, human rights abuses, racism, corruption, religious
extremism
Presidential spokesman, politicians, local journalists, citizens,
diaspora, US State Dept, foreign correspondents, UN system,
HR orgs
Silence, engagement and corrections

7. Curation: Bundlr
http://bundlr.com/b/questions-to-amb-robert-blake

8. Curation: Bundlr
http://groundviews.org/2012/04/18/the-questions-unanswered-by-amb-robert-blake-mapping-us-engagement-in-
and-concerns-over-sri-lanka

9. Timeline of post-war violence
http://groundviews.org/2011/06/11/months-after-the-18th-amendment-is-the-executive-really-more-accountable-to-
parliament

10. Timeline on reconciliation’s failure
http://groundviews.org/2012/08/03/sri-lankas-llrc-a-timeline-from-inception-to-implementation/

11. Facebook for bearing witness
https://www.facebook.com/groundviews

12. Facebook for dissent through memes
https://www.facebook.com/slmemes

13. Facebook for racism
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect-the-Buddhism-බු#-දහම-ආර)ෂාකරමු/318576704821497

14. Thank you
sanjanah@gmail.com