Press

Syrian Archive is a project of Mnemonic. We regularly speak to the media about topics related to justice and accountability efforts in Syria, archiving practices, open source investigations and content takedowns by platforms.

If you’d like to speak to one of the team please write to info@syrianarchive.org.

Articles in which the work of the Syrian Archive was highlighted include the following:

2022

• Forbes TikTok для разведки. Как социальные сети помогают отслеживать приближение танков к границам Украины
• TIME ‘I Fear That History Will Repeat Itself.’ Syrians Express Solidarity With Ukraine After Russian Invasion
• France24 Russia tactics in Ukraine war mirror Syria testing ground: experts
• The Washington Post Russia waged a cheap war in Syria. Here’s what those tactics might look like in Ukraine.
• Meddle East Monitor Russia attacks in Syria are lessons for online investigation in Ukrainian war, research says
• DW Lessons from online investigators in Syria help Ukraine
• Rudaw The moderation of extremist content is prone to error, causing real-world harm
• Harmoon The Forgotten People of Idlib
• I24 NEWS Explainer: Why Russia is targeting Ukraine’s hospitals
• Dissensus Research Video’nun Toplumsal Kadrajları – Sidar Bayram
• IAPP Op-ed: EU DSA ‘cannot’ restrict content, delete evidence of war crimes from web
• The Citizen Russia tactics in Ukraine war mirror Syria testing ground: experts
• The New Institute An Archive of Atrocities
• Politico From war crime to conviction — what it will take to bring the Bucha killers to justice
• Qantara Lessons learnt in Syria help Ukraine
• Clark Now Russian military atrocities in Syria presaged tactics in Ukraine
• Rudaw The prolonged path to accountability in Syria
• Euractiv Ukraine: The DSA cannot let filters blind us to war crimes
• Al-Arabia Chemical weapons use from Syrian war stokes Ukraine’s fears
• Crimeur Tweeting for accountability: How can private online investigations contribute to (accurate) documentation of the war in Ukraine?
• Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland Mit Open Source Investigation gegen Menschenrechtsverletzungen
• FANACK Ukraine Evokes Painful Memories for Syrians Marking 11 Years of Conflict
• Wired A growing force of online detectives is fighting misinformation
• IL POST I diritti degli animali in tempo di guerra
• The Syrian Observer Syrian Organizations Provide New Evidence Against Assad to European Courts
• Middle East MonitorHuman rights groups present new evidence that Syria regime used chemical weapons
• AP NEWS Chemical weapons use from Syrian war stokes Ukraine’s fears
• SUD OUEST Attaques chimiques en Syrie : de nouvelles preuves déposées en France, en Allemagne et en Suède
• Le Figaro Attaques chimiques en Syrie : de nouvelles preuves déposées en France, en Allemagne et en Suède
• Le Monde The difficulty of conserving social media evidence of war crimes
• News week Eleven Years Later, War Rages on in Syria. It Won’t Stop if the West Remains Silent | Opinion
• Al-Estiklal Newspapaer THIS IS HOW OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE EXPOSED PUTIN’S WAR PLANS IN UKRAINE
• Nuremberg Academy Is the Future of International Criminal Law Domestic?
• Oxford Academic Mapping the Use of Open Source Research in UN Human Rights Investigations
• .CODA How to document war crimes in the digital age
• AP news Chemical weapons use from Syrian war stokes Ukraine’s fears
• Slate What We Need to Do With All of the Videos of Violence in Ukraine
• GIJN Lessons Learned from Syrian Journalists Investigating Russian War Crimes
• Qantara Lehren aus Syrien für die Ukraine
• Opinio Juris User-Generated Evidence: A Helping Hand for the ICC Investigation into the Situation in Ukraine?
• Wired TikTok Must Not Fail Ukrainians
• Just Security Ukraine May Mark a Turning Point in Documenting War Crimes
• DW Russian strikes on farms in Syria could be war crimes
• Rudaw Questions for Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons
• Insider What do you do when your country tortures you? Syrian refugees are finding a landmark pathway to justice in German courts.
• Bril Bad Speech, Good Evidence: Content Moderation in the Context of Open-Source Investigations
• The Jerusalem Post Missile fired towards Israel from Syria, sirens sound in north
• EuroNews Defenders say the Russian army is still committing war crimes in Syria
• BBC The Media Show BBC News
• Verfassungsblog The moderation of extremist content is prone to error, causing real-world harm
• Courrier International Artificial intelligence. Proving war crimes in Syria using synthetic images

2021

• Forbes (2021) Human Rights Documentation In The Digital Age: Why Machine Learning Isn’t A Silver Bullet
• Le Point (2021) L’organisation qui pourchasse les criminels de guerre syriens en fuite
• Financial Times (2021) Researchers train AI on ‘synthetic data’ to uncover Syrian war crimes
• Al-Arabia (2021) Israel’s intelligence minister says Syria must not have chemical weapons
• Fast Company (2021) Meet the man safeguarding journalists’ photos and videos in Syria and beyond
• The new Arab (2021) The researchers working to bring Syria war crimes to light
• Asharq Al-Awsat (2021) Israeli Intelligence Minister Says Syria Must Not Have Chemical Weapons
• Enab Baladi (2021) Taste of justice: Syrian victims of chemical weapon attacks witnessing serious accountability efforts
• Arms Control Association (2021) 2021 Arms Control Person(s) of the Year Nominees Announced
• Le Monde (2021) Israël a frappé des sites chimiques syriens, selon le « Washington Post »
• EFF (2021) Podcast Episode: Who Should Control Online Speech?
• Die Press (2021) Die Archivare der Kriegsverbrechen in Syrien
• Rudaw (2021) Scale of Syrian chemical weapons campaign tracked
• Distruption Nework Lab (2021) FACING DISINFORMATION
• Jadaliyya (2021) Archives as Repositories of Resistance: Syrian Uprisings Past and Present
• Utrecht Law Review (2021) The Role of Universities and Law Schools in Documenting Serious International Crimes and Advancing the Rule of Law
• EFF (2021) Joint Statement of the Digital Services Act Human Rights Alliance
• Politico (2021) Facebook did little to moderate posts in the world’s most violent countries
• Tech Policy Press (2021) The Facebook Papers: Conversations with Jeff Horwitz and Dia Kayyali
• Daily Dot (2021) Social media companies destroyed the history into QAnon
• Exposing The Invisible (2021) Investigation is Collaboration - Exposing the Invisible Together
• Humanitarian Policy Group (2021) Digital mapping and inclusion in humanitarian response
• Rueters (2021) Victims of chemical attacks in Syria file complaint with Swedish police
• Rueters (2021) Syrian victims of chemical attacks file case with French prosecutors
• Deutsche Welle (2021) Syria’s hospitals face systematic attacks: report
• The New Arab (2021) Syrian hospitals targeted more than 400 times in Russian and regime bombing during war
• Spiegel (2021) Menschenrechtsaktivisten legen Beweise für Hunderte Angriffe auf Krankenhäuser vor
• Vice (2021) The Next Chapter of Syria’s Revolution Will Be Digitised
• ARA (2021) La batalla per la memòria de la revolució i la guerra de Síria
• Spiegel (2021) Wie künstliche Intelligenz bei der Aufklärung von Kriegsverbrechen hilft
• Middle East (2021) Syria’s hospitals face systematic attacks: report
• TIME (2021) 2021 TIME100 Next: Hadi Al Khatib
• SCM (2021) SURVIVORS AND THE SYRIAN CENTER FOR MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, WITH SUPPORT from SYRIAN ARCHIVE AND the JUSTICE INITIATIVE, seek French criminal investigations of chemical attacks in Syria
• The Hindu (2021) Activists in race to save digital trace of Syria war
• Reuters (2021) Syrian victims of chemical attacks file case with French prosecutors
• The New York Times (2021) Criminal Inquiries Loom Over al-Assad’s Use of Chemical Arms in Syria
• Daily Sabah (2021) Syrian victims of chemical attacks file case against Assad regime
• Enab Baladi (2021) Syria Justice News in 2020: Roundup and Comment
• The Syrian Observer (2021) Syrian Journalist Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Emerging Leaders
• Rappler (2021) Capitol insurrection captured, and then erased on social media
• Foreign Policy (2021) The Internet Is a Crime Scene
• Time (2021) Syrian Medics Lay Out the Devastating Scale of Attacks on Healthcare Facilities Over 10 Years of War
• The New York Times (2021) Criminal Inquiries Loom Over al-Assad’s Use of Chemical Arms in Syria

2020

• Wired (2020) Change everything: 32 innovators who are building a better future
• The Times (2020) Assad trials brace Germany for new Nuremberg
• Amnesty (2020) “Keiner denkt über das Like hinaus”
• North Press Agency (2020) Accusations against Assad’s younger brother of orchestrating Syria chemical attack
• Frankfurter Rundschau (2020) „Mehr Stimmen gleichzeitig hören“
• Anadolu Agency (2020) German court may indict Assad for war crimes
• Spiegel (2020) German Prosecutors Are Collecting Evidence on Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria
• Deutsche Welle (2020) How Germany could indict Syria’s Assad for war crimes
• De Correspondent (2020) Sociale media verwijderen elk jaar miljoenen schokkende video’s. Maar daarmee gaat ook cruciaal bewijs verloren
• Stuff (2020) Accidental cover-up: Social-media platforms are destroying evidence of war crimes
• Politico (2020) What happened when humans stopped managing social media content
• KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (2020) How to notice without looking: the ‘algorithmization’ of terrorist content moderation in the Proposal for a Regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online [Part II]
• The Guardian (2020) Criminal complaint submitted to German court over sarin gas attacks in Syria
• AP NEWS (2020) [Rights groups ask Germany to probe Syria chemical attacks](Rights groups ask Germany to probe Syria chemical attacks)
• AlJazeera (2020) Syria chemical attacks: Case filed in German court names al-Assad
• VOA News (2020) Syrian Victims of Chemical Weapons Attacks Look to Germany for Justice
• Huam Rights Watch (2020) “Video Unavailable” Social Media Platforms Remove Evidence of War Crimes
• The Economist (2020) Social-media platforms are destroying evidence of war crimes
• Middle East Monitor (2020) NGOs call on Germany to investigate sarin gas attacks in Syria
• Military.com (2020) Rights Groups Ask Germany to Probe Syria Chemical Attacks
• VPRO (2020) Delete; Hoe geschiedenis gewist wordt
• Medium (2020) An Eye Toward Syria: A Case Study in Geolocation
• Middle East Eye (2020) Human rights groups press Germany to investigate sarin gas attacks in Syria
• The Washington Post (2020) The coronavirus is exacerbating a crisis on social media. Human rights activists could pay the price
• Lieber Institue West Point (2020) Imagining Justice for Syria
• The Paris Globalist (2020) How Social Media Platforms Silence Opposition in the Middle East and North Africa
• The Verge (2020) Facebook is deleting evidence of war crimes, researchers say
• ARS ELECTRONICA (2020) CyberArts 2020
• Euro News (2020) Germania, denuncia alla procura generale: “Indagate sul governo di Assad per l’uso del gas sarin”
• Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (2020) The secretive entity behind Syria’s chemical weapons program
• Reuters (2020) ‘Lost memories’: War crimes evidence threatened by AI moderation
• NBC News (2020) ‘Facebook doesn’t care’: Activists say accounts removed despite Zuckerberg’s free-speech stance
• MIT Technology Review (2020) Human rights activists want to use AI to help prove war crimes in court
• The Dispatch (2020) ‘Lost memories’: War crimes evidence threatened by AI moderation
• ARS Electronica (2020) Digital Communities 2020 GEMEINSCHAFT IN EINER ZEIT DER KRISE
• Reclaim The Net (2020) Social media censorship is hindering investigations, researchers say
• Time (2020) These Tech Companies Managed to Eradicate ISIS Content. But They’re Also Erasing Crucial Evidence of War Crimes
• FP (2020) Will Syria Be Held to Account for Chemical Attacks?
• The Guardian (2020) Syrian regime blamed for sarin gas attacks in landmark report
• AlJazeera (2020) The science and the art of open-source journalism
• Al-Monitor (2020) Building the revolution’s memory: Coders archive Lebanon’s protests
• Amnesty (2020) Groundbreaking book on open-source investigation to be launched at expert panel event
• UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix (2020) The Berkeley Protocol on Open Source Investigations
• Witness (2020) Human rights defenders are not terrorists, and their content is not propaganda

2019

• Middle East Eye (2019) Like killing them again’: Syrians fear history lost as Twitter plans account purge
• Mangal Media (2019) Digital Archives: Memory Banks of Revolution
• Arms Control Association (2019) What You Need to Know About Chemical Weapons Use in Syria
• Scientific American (2019) The Need for a Nuremberg Code for the 21st Century
• The New York Times (2019) YouTube Is Erasing History
• Columbia Journalism Review (2019) YouTube takedowns are making it hard to document war crimes
• CNET (2019) These watchdogs track secret online censorship across the globe
• Newsy (2019) YouTube Videos Show Evidence Of War Atrocities — Until They’re Deleted
• WJCT (2019) The Importance Of Preserving Videos Of War Crimes
• MIT Technology Review (2019)Technology exposed Syrian war crimes over and over. Was it for nothing?
• Deutsche Welle (2019) German firms sent weapons-grade chemicals to Syria despite sanctions — report
• Asharq AL-Awsat (2019) Germany Investigates Chemical Material Exports to Syria
• BBC (2019) German chemical firm Brenntag defends its Syria deliveries
• Tagesschau.de (2019) Deutsche Chemikalien für Assads Giftgas?
• The Canadian Progressive (2019) Taking a stand against white supremacy, popular knitting site Ravelry bans content supporting Trump
• Süddeutsche Zeitung (2019) Deutsche Konzerne sollen waffenfähige Chemikalien nach Syrien geliefert haben
• SyriaUK (2019) Sanction Putin’s officers. Ground Assad. It CAN be done.
• The Conversation (2019) Archiver les traces numériques en Méditerranée, un défi aux multiples enjeux
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (2019) German chemical firm Brenntag defends its Syria deliveries
• Gizmodo (2019) How American Corporations Are Policing Online Speech Worldwide
• Amnesty (2019) OP-ED: How Facebook’s sudden change hinders human rights investigations
• Los Angeles Times (2019) Keep politicians away from social media regulation, and let God tweet
• Huffpost (2019) YouTube Says It’s Removing Thousands Of Extremist Videos. What Happens To Them?
• The Brussels Times (2019). Belgian company targetted in Syrian chemical weapons probe
• Justice Initiative (2019) German and Belgian Prosecutors Urged to Investigate Chemical Shipments to Syria
• Le Soir (2019) Gaz toxiques en Syrie: trois ONG portent plainte contre BASF Antwerpen
• The Atlantic (2019) When Algorithms Make the Evidence Vanish
• Advox - Global Voices (May 2019) ‘Envision a new war’: the Syrian Archive, corporate censorship and the struggle to preserve public history online
• Enorm magazin (2019) Wie KI Menschenrechte schützt
• Zaman Al Wasl (May 2019) The Syrian Archive recovers 150,000 videos after YouTube deletion
• Paris Globalist (April 2019) Justice for Syria?
• Trial International (2019) German and Belgian authorities react to new findings on chemicals’ exports to Syria
• The Verge (2019) Upload filters and one-hour takedowns: the EU’s latest fight against terrorism online, explained
• Monument Lab (2019) THE NEW GATEKEEPERS: WILL GOOGLE DECIDE HOW WE REMEMBER SYRIA’S CIVIL WAR?
• Just Security (2019) Scramble to Erase New Zealand Attack Videos Exposes Pitfalls Too

2018

• Buzzfeed (2018). The Histories Of Today’s Wars Are Being Written On Facebook And YouTube. But What Happens When They Get Taken Down?
• Independent (2018). Syrian group documents ‘Russian attacks on civilians’
• AP NEWS (2018) Syrian group documents Russian attacks on civilians
• geographical imaginations (2018) 1418 strikes and you’re still in…
• Ukrinform (2018) Syrian Archive:1400 Angriffe russischer Truppen auf Zivilisten in Syrien
• 20 Minutos (2018) Grupo sirio documenta ataques rusos contra civiles
• Tyden.cz (2018) Ruské útoky v Sýrii: neziskovka zmapovala 1400 případů
• РБК-Украина (2018) Сирийский архив задокументировал свыше 1,4 тыс. российских атак на гражданских
• The Guardian (2018). Belgian firms prosecuted over Syria chemical exports
• The Brussels Times (2018). Belgian companies exported component of sarin to Syria
• Knack (2018). Douane vervolgt Vlaamse bedrijven voor illegale export naar Syrië
• Buzzfeed (2018). These 3 Companies Are Under Investigation For Selling A Chemical Weapons Ingredient To Syria
• BBC (2018). Belgium firms prosecuted over exporting Sarin precursor to Syria
• The Daily Beast (2018). Belgian Firms Sent 96 Tons of Sarin ‘Precursor’ to Syria: Prosecutor
• Vlaams Parlement (2018). Plenaire vergadering
• Buzzfeed (2018). Silicon Valley Can’t Be Trusted With Our History
• Global Investigative Journalism Network (2018). Dig into the Open Source Database of Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria
• SWR2 (2018). Bildmaterial aus dem Syrien-Krieg dokumentiert Kriegsverbrechen
• Qantara (2018). Netting the war criminals
• re:publica (2018). Accelerating Human Rights Investigations with Computer Vision
• The National (2018). Belgian trial could shed light on Syrian chemical weapons supply lines
• Fastcompany (2018). Erasing History: YouTube’s Deletion Of Syria War Videos Concerns Human Rights Groups
• Sueddeutsche (2018). Das digitale Gedächtnis des Krieges
• Deutschlandfunk (2018). Internationales Team sichert Kriegsvideos,
• WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice (2018). Panel Convened on Technology, Syria, and Human Rights
• Video from Tous les internets, ARTE (2018). The Syrian Archive.
• correctiv (2018). Beweise sichern für einen Prozess, den es vielleicht nie gibt
• The New York Review of Books, (16 October 2018). Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets
• HURIDOCS, (22 June 2018). HRC side event panel on the role of technology in human rights investigations
• El Grito STORYTELLING with VIDEO COLLECTIONS
• Jstor, 2018 The Syrian Archive: A Methodological Case Study of Open-Source Investigation of State Crime Using Video Evidence from Social Media Platforms
• ICIJ, (11 July 2018) How spies and investigative reporters think alike
• NTV ( 22 September 2018). Künstliche Intelligenz scannt Bomben in Syrien
• Medium (2018). How Syrian Archive use open source investigation to support accountability in Syria

2017

• Kayyali, D and Althaibani, R. (2017). Vital Human Rights Evidence in Syria is Disappearing from YouTube. Voxpol.
• El Deeb, S. History of Syria’s war at risk as YouTube reins in content. AP News.
• Syrian observer staff. The Syrian Archive: Preserving Evidence of War Crimes in the Digital Era. The Syrian Observer.
• Seibt, S. YouTube met en danger les preuves des atrocités commises en Syrie. France24.
• Asher-Schapiro, A. (2017). YouTube and Facebook are Removing Evidence of Atrocities, Jeopardizing Cases Against War Criminals. The Intercept.
• Kayyali, D and Althaibani, R. (2017). Vital Human Rights Evidence in Syria is Disappearing from YouTube.. Witness.
• Godin, J. (2017). YouTube Videos Show Evidence Of War Atrocities — Until They’re Deleted. Newsy.
• Peteranderl, S. (28 July 2017). The Syrian Archive rekonstruiert Luftangriffe auf Krankenhäuser.. Wired Germany.
• Knight, B. (2017). Syrian Archive finds ‘overwhelming’ Russian atrocities in Aleppo.. Deutsche Welle. 28 March.
• Al Jazeera. (29 July 2017). Medical facilities under fire report. Al Jazeera.
• Editor. (4 September 2017). 120.000 videos removed by YouTube while the Syrian Archive is preserving them.. Radio Souriali.
• MEE Staff. (28 July 2017). Syrian and Russian forces ‘targeted medical facilities after gas attack’.. Middle East Eye.
• Martin, A. (15 August 2017). “YouTube ‘deleted Syrian war crime evidence’. Sky News.
• Exposing the Invisible. (2016). “The Syrian Archive.” Tactical Technology Collective.

2016

• Tagesschau. (28 December 2016). Datenbank dokumentiert Gräueltaten in Syrien. Tagesschau.
• Schellevis, J. (28 December 2016). Activisten brengen mensenrechtenschendingen Syrië in kaart.. NOS.
• Knight, B. (2016). Syrian Archive catalogues war atrocities online. Deutsche Welle.