How Technological Affordances Affect Risk Assessments in Open-Source Investigations

This thesis investigates the nuanced dynamics of open-source investigations concerning human rights violations and war crimes, utilizing insights from recent social science research on hybrid media and assemblage theory. By examining the interplay between technological affordances and risk assessments, it aims to elucidate the underlying logic guiding these investigations and their practical applications across various entities such as research centers, news organizations, and non-governmental organizations. The study explores how technological tools - including remote sensing, internet data forensics, and DNA sequencing - intersect with professional norms to shape investigative approaches and outcomes. It delves into the concept of liminality, highlighting the transitional state that merges technology and human behavior and how risk assessments are contingent upon organizational nature and intended purposes. The findings show that organizations undertaking open-source investigations prioritize the purpose of an investigation over the potential risks introduced by the tools and methods used. Furthermore, the hybrid nature of these investigations creates context-specific assemblages of purpose, evidence, and methods that necessitate updates to individual risk assessment as those networks develop and technological capabilities evolve.

Author

• Lorente, Beatriz Almodova

Language

• English

Keyword

• human rights
• risk assessment
• open-source investigations
• technological affordances
• war crimes
• investigative journalism

Date created

• 2024

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Media & Strategic Communications

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Livingston, Steven

Committee Member(s)

• Koenig, Alexa

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/kd17ct72k