Sam Gregory is Program Director of WITNESS (www.witness.org) which helps people use video and technology to defend human rights. Founded after the Rodney King incident, WITNESS has more than 25 years of experience in 100+ countries, supporting critical uses of video to secure accountability, reaching millions of people with skills and tools, engaging technology giants on how their technology makes a difference, and maximizing civic participation via visual and social media.
Sam’s current work focuses on the threats and opportunities as emerging technologies such as AI intersect with disinformation, media manipulation, and rising authoritarianism. An expert on new forms of misinformation and disinformation as well as innovations in preserving trust, authenticity and evidence he leads WITNESS’ global activities -- in coordination with technical researchers, policy-makers, companies, media organizations, journalists and civic activists -- aimed at building better globally-inclusive preparedness for deepfakes (wit.to/Synthetic-Media-Deepfakes) and supervises both WITNESS’s Media Lab as well as its work advocating to technology companies. He also currently co-chairs the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on Social and Societal Influence of AI and is a participant in their Steering Committee on AI and Media Integrity, governing detection challenges for deepfakes.
Quoted in major media worldwide, he has spoken at Davos and the White House and was a 2010 Rockefeller Bellagio resident on the future of video in activism and a 2012-17 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He is a member of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court and of the Advisory Board of First Draft. A graduate of Oxford University and the Harvard Kennedy School, from 2010-2018 he taught the first graduate level course at Harvard on participatory media and human rights.
Human Rights • International Justice • Living Conditions • Peace and Human Rights • Standards
