How Data-Driven Journalism Illuminates Patterns of Injustice | Alison Killing | TED

翻译人员: Hangyuan Liu 校对人员: Shuhui Huang

Recently, I spent several days exploring Kashgar, a city in Xinjiang,

最近，我在位于 中国西北的新疆喀什

northwest China.

转了几天。

I got to wander the streets of the old town

我在老城区的街道上游荡，

and visit the bazaar and several mosques and take in the sights.

去了当地的集市和几个清真寺， 不时驻足观赏。

I've never been to Kashgar personally,

我之前从未去过喀什，

but through the YouTube videos and Instagram posts of tourists,

但我通过其他游客的 Youtube 视频和 Instagram 照片，

I was able to experience the city at a key moment in time:

得以在一个关键的时间节点 一窥这个城市的风貌。

October 2017,

这一节点 就是 2017 年 10 月，

just as the mass detention campaign in the region was gathering pace.

当时正值该地区的 大规模拘留行动不断升级。

These videos could help us investigate the visual signs of the crackdown.

这些视频可以帮助我们 研究这一镇压行动的种种迹象。

The checkpoints at each intersection with their metal detectors,

每个十字路口都设有卡点， 并配备了金属探测仪，

ID checks and iris scans,

还有身份证查验和虹膜扫描。

the CCTV cameras which pervade the city

监控摄像头 遍布城市的各个角落，

and the riot police on every corner.

防暴警察 把守着每一个街角。

Over the past decade,

在过去的十年里，

online and open-source investigations

在线的开源调查

have taken off in the fields of journalism and human rights monitoring,

在新闻和人权监察领域 被广泛运用，

using photographs, videos

使用网上的照片、视频

and the digital traces we leave behind as we use the internet

以及我们使用互联网时 留下的数字足迹

to conduct investigations.

来展开调查。

Social media data is combined with tools like satellite imagery and 3D modelling,

社交媒体数据与 卫星图像和三维建模相结合，

as well as more traditional journalistic techniques like interviews

同时辅以采访、 搜索政府文件等

and searches of government documents.

更传统的新闻调查技巧。

It's also brought new kinds of people to journalism.

在线开源调查也吸引了 一些新的群体加入新闻行业，

Software developers, animators, archaeologists,

比如软件开发者、 动画师、人类学家

or, like me, an architect.

或是像我一样的建筑师。

I got involved in investigating Xinjiang in the summer of 2018

我在 2018 年夏天参与到 关于新疆的调查中，

when I met Megha Rajagopalan, an American journalist

契机是我认识了美国记者 李香梅 (Megha Rajagopalan)，

who had been working in China for several years.

当时她已经 在中国工作数年。

Over the past few years,

在过去的几年中，

China has been carrying out a campaign of oppression in Xinjiang

中国在新疆展开了 针对突厥裔穆斯林的打压行动，

against Turkic Muslims,

including the largest group, the Uyghurs.

其中就包括当地最大的群体， 维吾尔族人。

It's part of a campaign of forcible assimilation,

这一打压行动仅仅是 强制同化行动的一部分，

and several nations have described it as a genocide.

被多个国家称为种族灭绝。

It's estimated that over a million people

据估计， 有超过 100 万人被消失，

have been disappeared into detention camps.

关进了拘留中心。

And while the Chinese government claims

尽管中国政府宣称，

that these are part of a benign program of re-education,

这些都只是 再教育行动的一部分，

dozens of former detainees describe being tortured and abused

数十名被拘留过的人表示 曾受到折磨和虐待，

and women being forcibly sterilized.

还有女性被强制绝育。

And yet, for a long time,

然而，在很长一段时间里，

we lacked information about what was happening in Xinjiang,

我们一直缺少能够反映 新疆真实情况的信息，

because the Chinese government controls the internet tightly

这都归咎于中国政府 对互联网的严密控制，

and restricts journalists' work in the region.

以及对该区域记者活动的限制。

Journalists would be followed or detained,

进入该区域的记者 会被跟踪或是拘留。

and the authorities occasionally even went so far

有时，当局甚至不惜

as to set up fake roadworks or stage car crashes

设置假的道路施工标识 或是伪装车祸现场，

to prevent access to certain roads.

来切断特定道路的通行。

Local people who did speak to journalists

和记者接触的当地人

face the risk of being sent to a detention camp for doing so.

则面临被关进拘留营的风险。

Megha had been the first journalist to visit one of the camps.

李香梅是到访拘留营的 第一名记者。

But shortly after publishing her article,

但在她的文章发布后不久，

the Chinese authorities declined to renew her visa, and she had to leave.

中国当局拒绝为她续签， 她只能离开中国。

Other journalists had managed to visit a handful of the camps,

也有其他记者成功到访了 几个类似的拘留营，

but this still represented a fraction of what we believed was out there,

但我们认为，这些只占到 现有拘留营的一小部分，

and no one knew where the others were.

并且没有人知道 它们的确切位置。

But Megha was keen to find the rest.

然而，李香梅非常想 找到那些剩下的拘留营。

She just needed to find a way to work effectively from outside China.

不过她需要找到一个有效的方式， 从中国之外开展这项工作。

Another challenge was that Xinjiang is huge.

另一个难处在于 新疆广袤无垠，

It's four times the size of California,

面积是加利福尼亚州的四倍。

and that made it difficult to look for a network of camps

这使得查找散落其中的 拘留营的位置

that was spread across the region.

变得异常困难。

Satellite imagery could help to solve both of those problems.

卫星图像则能够 同时解决这两个问题。

But more importantly,

而且更重要的是，

satellite imagery was a source of information

卫星图像这一信息来源

that the Chinese government couldn't control

是中国政府无法控制的，

because the satellites and the imagery they produce

因为卫星及卫星生成的图像

was owned by US and European organizations.

为美国和欧洲的组织所有。

But that still left us with the question

但我们依然面临的 一个问题是

of where in that huge amount of satellite imagery to look.

在海量的卫星图像中， 应该从何处着手。

And then I heard about something strange

然后，我就听说了 百度地图在全景模式下

that was happening in Baidu Total View,

发生的一件奇怪的事。

which is the Chinese equivalent of Google Street View.

这是一个中国版的 谷歌街景。

Photographer Jonathan Browning had discovered that buildings

摄影师乔纳森·勃朗宁 (Jonathan Browning) 发现，

百度全景下的 工业建筑和设施

and facilities like industrial estates

were being photoshopped out of ground level imagery,

被人为抹掉了，

often very clumsily.

通常还处理得很粗糙。

Yeah, it's bizarre, right?

很诡异，对不对？

At the time, it wasn't clear why this was happening,

当时我们并不清楚 这么做的理由，

but I realized that if industrial estates in eastern China were being obscured,

但我意识到，如果中国东部的 工业设施被抹掉，

then probably the same thing was happening with detention camps in Xinjiang.

那么有可能新疆的拘留营 也会被抹掉。

And I went to look at the imagery there to see what I could find.

然后我就去看新疆地区的图像， 看看能发现什么。

There were a handful of camps which had been visited by journalists.

好几个拘留营都有记者去过。

And so I went to those locations in Baidu to see what the platform showed.

因此我在百度地图上 找到了这些地点。

There was no street level imagery.

这些地点都无法显示街景。

But as I zoomed in on the satellite images,

但当我放大卫星图像时，

this weird thing happened.

奇怪的事发生了。

A light gray square suddenly appeared above the location of the camp

拘留营的位置 被浅灰色的方框盖住了，

and then disappeared just as quickly as I zoomed in further.

当我再放大时， 浅灰色的方框消失了。

It was a bit like the map wasn't loading properly,

看起来就像是 地图载入出错一样。

but then I zoomed out and in again only for the same thing to happen.

但当我缩小再放大时， 还是同样的状况。

I realized it couldn't be a problem with the map loading

我意识到，这不可能是 地图加载的问题，

because the tiles would have been in the browser's cache.

因为这一区域应该已经 载入至浏览器缓存。

And when I found the same thing happening

当我发现 同样的状况也发生在

at the other locations we knew to be camps,

其他几个已知的 拘留营地点时，

I realized that we had a technique we could use

我意识到， 我们有办法

to find the rest of the network.

找到其他的拘留营位置。

It's quite rare for maps and satellite images to have these blank spots

地图和卫星图像 很少出现这样的空白区块，

because blank areas tend to draw attention to themselves.

因为空白区块本身 就容易引起注意。

But here we got lucky.

但这次我们相当走运。

Obscuring the camps had inadvertently revealed all of their locations.

对拘留营的遮挡 无意间也暴露了它们的位置。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

We worked with developer Christo Buschek,

我们与开发者里斯托·布切克 (Christo Busche) 展开合作。

who specializes in documenting human rights issues

他专攻人权问题的记录，

and building tools for open-source researchers

并为开源研究员们开发工具，

to map the masked-tile locations.

用以在地图上 标记这些被遮挡的位置。

We had to work quickly and secretively to map the masked tiles

我们不得不悄悄地赶在别人 发现我们的意图并将它们移除前

before anyone found out what we were doing and removed them

迅速标记这些 被遮挡的位置，

because our investigation relied on access to that information.

因为这些信息是开展调查 所不可或缺的。

The idea was that we could go and look at the masked-tile locations

原理就是先找到 被遮挡的地理位置，

and then look at that same location

然后在其他未经修改的 卫星图像上

in other unaltered satellite imagery and see what was there.

找到同一位置， 看看这里都有些什么。

And this is what we saw.

这就是我们所看到的。

This is a former high school

这里先前是一所高中，

that became Kashgar Vocational Skills Education and Training Center.

后来被改造为喀什 职业技术教育培训中心。

Zooming in on the satellite imagery,

拉近卫星图像，

we can see the barbed wire in the courtyards

我们可以看到 院子周围的铁丝网。

that creates exercise pens for the detainees

围住的地方是放风区，

adjacent to the buildings.

供周围被拘留的人使用。

In other images, we can even see people,

在一些其他图像中， 我们甚至可以看到人，

all wearing red uniforms, lined up in the courtyard.

他们穿着红色制服， 在院子里列队排开。

These features could help us decide whether a location was a camp or not.

这些特点可以帮我们确定 某个地点是不是再教育营。

As we investigated further,

随着调查的推进，

we realized that the camp's program had evolved

我们意识到， 再教育营在不断演化，

away from the early days of makeshift camps

不再是最初由学校和医院

in former schools and hospitals,

改造而成的临时营地，

and had become more permanent,

而变成长期固定的设施。

that the camps were now larger,

我们也意识到， 现在的营地更大，

higher-security and purpose-built.

安全措施更严密， 修建的目的性也更强。

This is the largest camp that we know of.

这是我们所知的最大的营地，

It's in Dabancheng.

位于达坂城。

The complex is two miles long,

该营地长有两英里，

and it would cover a quarter of New York's Central Park.

面积相当于 1/4 个纽约中央公园。

In the satellite images, we can see the thick perimeter walls,

从卫星图像中， 我们能看到厚厚的围墙，

the guard towers and these blueish buildings,

哨塔，以及这些蓝色的建筑，

which we believe to be factories.

我们认为都是工厂。

We estimate that this complex can hold over 40,000 people without overcrowding.

我们估计该营地 可轻松容纳 40,000 人。

We corroborated these locations using government documents,

为了印证这些地点， 我们使用了政府文件，

many of which mention the camps address,

因为其中许多文件 都有提及营地的地址；

the few media reports which did exist on the camps

我们借助现存的少量 关于这些营地的媒体报道；

and our own interviews with former detainees

我们还采访了一些 曾被拘留在营地中的人，

who had managed to leave Xinjiang

他们后来成功离开新疆，

and are now living in Kazakhstan, Turkey or Europe.

现在居住在卡萨克斯坦、 土耳其或欧洲。

In total, we found 348 locations

最终，我们共找到了 348 个

bearing the hallmarks of camps and prisons.

具有再教育营和监狱特征的地点。

And we believe that this is close to being the full network.

我们认为这一数字 较为接近实际。

We estimate that these facilities have been built to hold

据我们估计， 这些设施总共可容纳

more than a million people.

超过 100 万人，

That's enough space to detain one in every 25 of Xinjiang's residents.

足以拘留 1/25 的新疆居民。

And that doesn't take into account the overcrowding

而且这一估算并未考虑 许多曾被拘留的人所提及的

that so many former detainees have described.

超容羁押的情况。

So that number could be even higher.

所以，实际容纳人数可能更高。

And then one morning,

在我们的地图公布 几个月后的一天早晨，

a few months after we had published our map,

I woke up to a series of messages about a YouTube video

我被多条信息吵醒， 当中提到一个 Youtube 视频

that was doing the rounds on Chinese social media.

正在中国社交媒体上疯传。

A Chinese vlogger, who goes by the name Guanguan,

一个叫关关（谐音）的 中国视频博主

had taken our map and traveled to Xinjiang.

拿着我们的地图去了新疆。

In his video,

在他的视频中，

we see him driving down a main road past a compound

我们看到他开车沿一条主路 经过一处场地，

with barbed wire on top of the perimeter wall

围墙顶部布满了铁丝网，

and bars on the windows.

窗户装上了栅栏。

Next, he pretends to take a wrong turn down a side street

然后，他假装走错， 拐进了一条小巷，

so that he can film the facility at the end.

目的是拍摄位于巷尾的设施。

The sign on the gate says "13th Division Detention Center."

该设施大门上的标志写着： “第十三看守所”。

And then he hurriedly turns his car and drives away.

随后，他急忙掉头离开。

Later, he hangs his camera from his backpack

接着，他将摄像头挂在背包上，

as he walks past this huge prison complex in Ürümqi.

步行走过这个 位于乌鲁木齐的大型监狱。

From Ürümqi he drove to the Dabancheng,

然后，他驱车离开乌鲁木齐 前往达坂城，

that small town with the enormous detention facility

就是刚才我给大家看的那个 拥有大型拘留设施的小城镇。

that I showed earlier.

He turned off the main road and drove up a gravel track,

他下了主路， 驶入一条碎石路，

then got out of his car and climbed up on an earth berm

然后下车，爬上路旁一个土堆，

overlooking the new compound.

俯瞰整个新建的设施。

This was a recklessly brave thing to do

这么做虽然勇敢， 却也鲁莽，

because, as he notes in the video, tourists don't go to that place.

原因他自己也在视频里说了， 游客是不会去这种地方的。

He had no plausible deniability for being there.

而对于为什么会出现在这里， 他给不出任何可信的托词。

But this is the view from the top,

这是从土堆顶端看到的画面，

and it's the first image that I'm aware of

这是我所知的 第一个关于达坂城

of the new camp at Dabancheng.

这一新建营地的影像资料。

This video showed us places from ground level

这个视频从地面的角度 向我们展示了

that previously we had only seen from above,

此前只能自上而下 观察的地点，

indicating that our interpretations were correct.

也表明了我们 此前的解读是正确的。

Seeing the signs at the gates of the facility,

我们通过该设施大门上的标志

which told us the name and the type of facility,

得知了该设施的名称和种类，

added further evidence that these places were camps.

更进一步的印证了 这一类地方就是营地的事实。

This video helped us to corroborate a series of locations

这个视频作为佐证， 帮助我们确认了一系列

where previously all we had had was satellite imagery.

此前只有卫星图像的地点。

In Xinjiang, open sources have allowed us to examine

在新疆，我们借助 开源信息去检验

and counter the Chinese government's claims

和驳斥中国政府 关于该区域

about what's happening in the region.

真实情况的说法。

But this isn't the only time that open-source data

但这并非头一回 政府因开源数据

has led to a government losing control of their narrative.

而失去其叙事的主导权。

At the time,

叙利亚内战

the civil war in Syria was probably the most documented conflict ever,

可能是历史上 记录资料最多的冲突。

as people filmed bombings and their aftermath

人们录下了空袭轰炸 及硝烟散去后的满目疮痍，

and uploaded the videos to social media.

并将视频上传至社交媒体。

Researchers like Bellingcat then used that material

然后像 Bellingcat 这样的调查者 使用这些资料

to investigate allegations of war crimes,

调查战争犯罪相关的指控，

such as the use of chlorine gas against civilians.

比如针对平民使用氯气炸弹。

Open-source data has allowed journalistic work

开源数据拓宽了 新闻工作的宽度，

that previously would have been really difficult,

让此前难以开展的 新闻工作成为可能。

either because it happened in a place that you can’t safely go to

此前的难处或是在于 新闻发生地过于危险，

or because often there previously wouldn't have been

抑或是由于前期一直缺乏

adequate evidence to examine.

调查所需的足够证据。

Now researchers are using these same tools and techniques

目前，研究人员正在利用 相同的工具和技术

to monitor the most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

来监控最新一轮 俄罗斯对乌克兰的入侵。

One of the first signs of the invasion came in Google Maps

此次入侵最早的信号 来自谷歌地图。

with a traffic jam created by Russian artillery moving across the border

地图上的交通堵塞，是由俄罗斯炮兵 陆续跨越边境，

that blocked the roads for civilian traffic.

阻塞民用道路所导致的。

TikTok videos have given away Russian troop movements.

抖音上的短视频 同样暴露了俄军的动向。

Researchers are investigating potential war crimes

调查人员目前正在调查 潜在的战争犯罪行为，

and aiming to fact-check claims about the war in close to real time.

目标是实时地核实 俄乌战争相关信息的真实性。

To do this work, satellite imagery is essential.

要实现这一点， 卫星图像至关重要。

In Xinjiang, we were lucky enough to have satellite imagery,

我们非常幸运地获得了 新疆的卫星图像。

high-resolution, up-to-date,

这些图像分辨率高 且更新及时，

often taken every month or so and available to us for free.

更新频率在一个月左右， 而且可以免费使用。

This allowed us to verify potential camp locations

这才让我们能够确认 营地可能的位置，

and to follow the progress of the camp's construction closely.

并且密切跟进营地的建设进展。

But this isn't true of everywhere

但并非所有 记者想要调查的地方

that journalists would want to investigate,

都有免费、实时、 高清的卫星图像。

and we need affordable access to imagery of those places as well.

同时，这些图像的获取成本 要在可承担的范围内。

We also rely on access to other forms of data.

我们同样也依赖 其他形式的数据。

We not only need people to take photos and videos,

我们不仅需要 人们多拍照、多录像，

we need them to upload them to a platform

还需要他们 将这些照片视频

where researchers can access them.

上传至研究人员 能够访问的平台。

And then we need that material to be preserved.

然后，我们需要有人 将这些材料保存下来。

Often social media platforms have removed material showing violence,

社交媒体平台通常会移除 那些展示暴力的内容，

even when it's providing key evidence of human rights violations.

即使这些内容可作为侵犯人权行为的 关键证据也不例外。

Civil society actors such as the Syrian Archive

像 Syrian Archive 这样的 公民社会团体

have stepped in to download and preserve that material.

已经介入， 去下载保存这些材料。

With social media data and satellite imagery,

我们利用社交媒体数据 和卫星图像，

we can provide evidence of human rights abuses

为侵犯人权的行为提供证据，

in a way that wasn't possible before.

这在以前是不可能实现的。

We can move beyond looking at individual instances of human rights violations

我们能够不再局限于 一个个侵犯人权的具体案例，

to show the scale of what's happened.

进而去反映 人权侵犯行为的规模。

We can corroborate the testimony of eyewitnesses

我们可以使用证人的证言 进行相互佐证，

and provide further proof of their stories.

为他们的故事提供更多证据。

We can build a more detailed picture of what's happening

我们能够更具体地 描绘事件的原委，

to inform policymakers

为政策制定者提供信息，

or to provide evidence that can be presented in court.

或是提供 可以提交法庭的证据。

With open-source data,

在开源数据的帮助下，

we can provide the evidence needed for accountability

我们能够提供证据去归究责任，

and then, hopefully, action.

甚至是采取行动追究责任。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）