Strange Loop

2009 - 2023

/

St. Louis, MO

Data-driven investigation in defense of human rights

Over the last few years, data-driven investigation as a field has gained ground. It has become an essential aspect of journalists' daily work and human rights defenders worldwide. Data-driven investigations are applied for various outcomes, from producing stories covering bias in predictive policing to indicting warlords to the International Criminal Court. Data allows us to develop compelling stories which expose the misuse of power and human rights abuses.

In this talk, I would like to talk about the practice of data as an investigative method. Data-driven investigations bring together a wide variety of disciplines and techniques. They combine code, design, and analysis and thus can not only extend previous forms of research but also develop and execute entirely new methodologies. I want to highlight different aspects of data-driven methods and their opportunities for systematic investigations and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Christo Buschek

Christo Buschek

Independent programer and data journalist.

Christo Buschek is a programmer and data journalist. His focus lies in data-driven research, which he combines with storytelling to expose human rights abuses and strengthen social justice. Among other projects, Buschek's open-source software, Sugarcube, has been used to preserve the most extensive collection of documentation on war crimes in Syria. Buschek received the Kim Wall Award, the Sigma Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for the project "Built to Last," which documented the mass incarceration of Uighurs in China. Additionally, Buschek is a Knowing Machines Fellow at the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at the New York University, studying the biases of datasets that underlie today's AI, and works on an expert level for the CDCPP of the Council of Europe to promote the importance of freedom of artistic expression. In the past, Buschek has also trained non-profit staff and human rights activists in digital security and privacy.