As the executive director of an organization rocketed into existence 20 years ago because of a piece of media (the filming by a bystander of the beating of Rodney King by the Los Angeles police department), I firmly believe in the accelerating powers of visual media as applied to social progress. But our experience equipping grassroots activists with the tools and skills to use video to achieve their social change goals has shown that certain conditions have to be met for the accelerating powers, or “super powers,” of media to take full effect.

Today, when a young citizen-witness in a repressive regime climbs upon a rooftop and pulls out her mobile phone to document security forces murdering her neighbor, her access to media in and by itself does not progress her freedoms, create accountability, or lead to a more just society. If she, the piece of media, or the location from which she uploads it is identifiable, that data may lead to the regime finding her, arresting her or possibly worse. In a country like Syria, the mere fact that she is holding a camera makes her a priority target for snipers with orders to kill people who film.

If she’s lucky to survive and find a way to distribute the video, it might end up on YouTube or on a Facebook page. That piece of media may galvanize a public outcry against the atrocities that are happening – on our watch in real time – particularly if amplified and distributed by CNN, the BBC or other media.

But there are stumbling blocks on the way to social progress from here. For one, a myriad of technology challenges stand in the way: that person’s YouTube account is likely to be compromised and the results of her bravery may be lost forever. Google may exercise its newfound authority as the arbiter of free speech and remove it because it decides that that her video violates its terms of service. Or her video may break one of many laws in place that curtail free speech and may be taken down at her government’s request.

And that is only on the way to assuring that this story gets told so that it can begin to serve as a powerful tool toward social change.

Let’s assume her video makes it to a platform where it can, theoretically, be seen by millions. Her next challenge is that unless the video is contextualized and pulled out of (also known as “curation”) the melee of visual images that hit our retinas every day, it will escape our over-saturated attention. If we do see it, how exactly does social progress happen from that moment on? The jury is still out on the impact of the millions of views of the infamous “Kony2012” video. Will President Obama, browsing YouTube on his iPhone, stumble upon this video and decide the U.S. needs to intervene or act (faster)?

For that video to have the most impact, it needs to end up in front of the right decision maker, a court, a UN body, or a mobilizing movement of young voters. Then, it can change the hearts and minds of people with influence.

A personal story – shared via video – can be a powerful catalyzer, moving people to act and allowing social progress to take place. To do that, it needs to be part of both online and offline efforts that involve several tactics.

For media to live up to its fullest potential as a true change agent, it needs to be infused with “super powers”.

These include:

1. A technology environment that promotes and enhances the value of media, e.g. creation of technology solutions that authenticate media.  For example, we developed, together with the Android developers the Guardian Project, a software camera for your mobile that allows you to authenticate your videos.
2. Policy environments where media is valued and accepted, e.g. by courts and institutions formulating evidence rules around visual media. At the moment, the International Criminal Court is flooded with citizen media from e.g. Libya and Syria, but does not yet have a common evidentiary standard for accepting citizen media. We are convening stakeholders to promote a metadata standard for video and improve the trust courts can put in citizen media.
3. Social media and internet platforms that are “social by design,” e.g. allow curation and contextualization so that important stories reach the right people and media is preserved. For example, we’ve launched the Human Rights Channel in partnership with YouTube and Storyful, a customized space where videos are curated and contextualized. Other commercial solutions that enhance platforms are plug-ins like the “social protection” one. In addition, we’ve advocated that YouTube incorporate functionalities that anticipate activists’ uses of their platform and protects its users anonymity and safety, which it has recently done in its video editor.
4. And increased digital media literacy skills that turn all of us citizen-witnesses into people who understand how to use media safely and effectively. There are many organizations and companies working on this, such as Tactical Technology Collective or Mobile Active. WITNESS is responding to this need by developing additional curriculum, from tip sheets to short videos and making those available online.

With those “super powers” under its belt, media, particularly visual media, has enormous potential as a tool for social progress.