How to Share Protest Photos/Videos on Social Media Responsibly.
The situation in the United States is dire, to put it mildly. We are in the midst of a once-a-century pandemic. We are also in the midst of social turmoil the likes of which we have not seen in decades. The BLM movement continues to gain momentum, with more deaths appearing every day. Many people post images and videos of protests, riots, brutality, robbery and vandalism on social media to raise their voices and awareness. But most of them are doing it wrong and, even more alarming, irresponsible. You have to be careful when posting photos and videos of the protest on social media, and here’s why.
Also Read: Best Protester Apps for iOS and Android
Share protest photos / videos
It has become an easy way to share images and videos online. It’s even easier to make it go viral. Unedited and unfiltered images and videos can lead to harassment, arrest, personal revenge, and even more violence. Unfortunately, some people also use these messages for personal gain or just for fun. Hence the post.
I will share some tips and tricks to help you share these images and videos so that all personal tracks are covered. Always protect your identity and those around you.
Here’s how.
1. Blur identifiable data and trace in photos
You can use any simple image / video editor for blue things that can identify you or those around you before posting it to social media. You don’t know how far the news will travel when it hits the web. I suggest you blur the license plates, your mailing address, faces if they don’t have masks, scars, birthmarks, tattoos or anything that may be related to you, as well as anything that is unique and may be related to you.
Always wear masks that cover your entire face. This not only protects you from someone who easily identifies you, but also protects against the COVID-19 virus. It’s amazing how no one is paying attention to the pandemic anymore. I know the BLM movement is important and police brutality and abuse of power must stop, but your health and life are just as important. You cannot protect the dead.
We’ve compiled a list of cool image blur apps for Android and iOS. Check them out. There are dedicated background blur apps if that’s what you’re looking for. Everyone uses their smartphones to take pictures anyway, so these apps should be enough.
Never open Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or other similar apps and immediately take pictures to download them. Your editing options are limited in this way, and more often than not, you generally forget to edit them in a hurry.
2. Use social media application tools
Most social media apps like Twitter and Instagram do not allow objects to be blurred in images. But you can get creative and use other editing tools like a pen, pencil or other markup tools to hide the face. Here’s a sample Twitter app on Android.
Twitter doesn’t offer pens or other similar tools to hide your face, but you can get creative and use emojis to work. The same goes for Instagram and other similar apps. However, the best way to do this is to use one of the third party apps. You get a lot more control over how the final image looks using tools like blur and pencil.
Next-generation privacy-focused apps like Signal have released a dedicated AI-based tool that automatically blurs faces in photos. You don’t have to manually edit images, which is great for two reasons. First, they made the process automatic. Second, it will raise awareness of the importance of privacy and security, encouraging other applications to follow suit.
The default image editing apps on iPhone and Android come with useful markup tools for making such changes. All Android phones come with Google Photos, which also works equally well.
3. Remove the website and metadata
Every picture or photo you take with your smartphone contains many details about you and your device. For example, location information, phone make and model, application, date and time, etc. You can easily view this data on your computer. Right-click the image, select Properties and go to the Details tab. This is called EXIF ​​or metadata. It is even present in DSLR images.
One way to remove all of this data is to use Image Scrubber. The app is free and, more importantly, open source, but only works inside the browser. I tried using it in a mobile browser and it worked, so you can edit images on your smartphone without a computer.
Not only that, you can also use Image Scrubber to blur images or darken faces and other traceable elements in a photo. I recommend that you save the site as a bookmark on your home screen when prompted, as shown in the image above. This way you don’t have to search for it every time you want to share an image. The web application shortcut will be easily accessible.
4. Blur video clips
Blurring video is not the same as blurring images. It is difficult even with an app. But this remains to be done. Download and install Blur Video for Android and Video Mosaic for iOS.
An iOS app can automatically blur an object’s face in a video, but that’s not the only thing that police, government, hackers and intruders can identify with. This is why I recommend using your finger to select identifiable objects in the background. Just track the subject with your finger while the video plays frame by frame.
The Android app was designed more for special effects, but you can use the same for privacy and security. Try it now.
Share protest photos / videos
On several occasions, the police identified someone from the crowd in the riots and used this information for revenge and revenge. It’s another matter if you find that someone is damaging public property or doing something illegal. But always defend peaceful protesters who are simply looking for justice. Peace.