Upstream Harms: How Open-Source Investigation, AI, and Big Tech Enable Militarism in Gaza
By
@opiniojuris
Summary
This article critically examines the relationship between open-source investigation (OSI) practices, artificial intelligence, Big Tech platforms, and militarism, with a particular focus on the Gaza conflict. Patrick Brian Smith argues that OSI tools and methodologies, while framed as neutral and human-rights oriented, are increasingly co-opted by military and state actors, and that Big Tech companies play a complicit role in enabling surveillance, censorship, and violence. The piece explores how AI-driven OSI tools are deployed in conflict zones, the ethical implications of platform governance, and the upstream harms that result from the entanglement of tech infrastructure with military operations in Gaza.
Source
Key quotes
· 5 pulledOSI practices involve the collection and analysis of information drawn from publicly accessible sources to examine specific events, individuals, and organisations.
Within our digitally networked, mediated, and platformed present, the sheer ubiquity of data creates both opportunities for accountability and profound risks of complicity.
The framing of OSI as neutral and human-rights oriented obscures the ways these tools are increasingly co-opted by military and state actors.
Big Tech platforms are not neutral conduits; they are active participants in the infrastructure of surveillance, censorship, and violence.
The entanglement of AI-driven OSI tools with military operations in Gaza reveals the upstream harms that demand urgent critical scrutiny.
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