David Simon: “To Support Accountability for Atrocities, Fix U.S. Law on the Sharing of Digital Evidence “

David Simon
April 29, 2022

Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies David Simon has an article in the journal Just Security entitled “To Support Accountability for Atrocities, Fix U.S. Law on the Sharing of Digital Evidence”. 

Abstract:

“The risk arises from the loss of evidence due to the permanent removal of content deemed to have violated platforms’ terms of service. Imagine, for example, that there existed a video placing a specific individual at the scene of a summary execution of Ukrainian civilians. This content and its accompanying metadata – which have proven crucial in debunking disinformation and documenting Russian atrocities in the war – would likely be invaluable evidence in a war crimes trial, but because it would be graphic in nature, platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook would remove it for violating their Terms of Service.”