Experiment 03
Media Sonar Ad Video (Unlisted)
Paired with Michael Brown Vigil + Protest Footage
Media Sonar is a Canadian software company that sells social media monitoring tools to police. The company has developed a list of 490 words that will flag individuals online and store them in a database as potential criminals, threats to public safety and terrorists. At the end of the list are keywords that were developed by a representative of Media Sonar that tracks and stores data on users that speak openly about Michael Brown, a Black teenager murdered by police in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9th, 2014. The keywords are underneath a section called “Mike Brown Related” and includes words such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Hands Up Don’t Shoot.” The right side of the film is playing footage from a few of many vigils held for Michael Brown, as well as footage from the protests and riots that erupted in Ferguson. Protests began when a white, 28-year-old police officer named Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown and was not charged. The left side of the film is Media Sonar’s unlisted YouTube video advertising their predictive policing algorithms and data mining strategies. The audio is from an interview with Jeff Brantingham, a UCLA anthropology professor and the developer of PredPol. This is another predictive policing algorithm being used by the same police departments that are using Media Sonar in the United States, particularly the LAPD and NYPD. Media Sonar and PredPol have developed biased algorithms that target marginalized communities, specifically Black activists in the United States. These algorithms perpetuate racial profiling and allow police officers to further avoid accountability and responsibility for police brutality and murder.
Media Sonar Ad Video (Unlisted)
Paired with Michael Brown Vigil + Protest Footage
Media Sonar is a Canadian software company that sells social media monitoring tools to police. The company has developed a list of 490 words that will flag individuals online and store them in a database as potential criminals, threats to public safety and terrorists. At the end of the list are keywords that were developed by a representative of Media Sonar that tracks and stores data on users that speak openly about Michael Brown, a Black teenager murdered by police in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9th, 2014. The keywords are underneath a section called “Mike Brown Related” and includes words such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Hands Up Don’t Shoot.” The right side of the film is playing footage from a few of many vigils held for Michael Brown, as well as footage from the protests and riots that erupted in Ferguson. Protests began when a white, 28-year-old police officer named Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown and was not charged. The left side of the film is Media Sonar’s unlisted YouTube video advertising their predictive policing algorithms and data mining strategies. The audio is from an interview with Jeff Brantingham, a UCLA anthropology professor and the developer of PredPol. This is another predictive policing algorithm being used by the same police departments that are using Media Sonar in the United States, particularly the LAPD and NYPD. Media Sonar and PredPol have developed biased algorithms that target marginalized communities, specifically Black activists in the United States. These algorithms perpetuate racial profiling and allow police officers to further avoid accountability and responsibility for police brutality and murder.
