Vo.4-Moshirnia-Final

2013 / Valuing Speech and OSINT in the Face of Judicial Deference 448
[T]he majority of the mapping, translating, and processing
work for the Ushahidi platform was done purely by
volunteers. In the spirit of the Ushahidi platform itself, the
very large and daunting task of aggregating thousands of
reports was manageable only because the body of work was
crowdsourced to a dedicated international network of
volunteers. 340
Ultimately, the team translated 25,186 SMS messages, along with
other media communications, creating 3,596 actionable reports. 341 Craig
Fugate of the FEMA Task Force noted that “[t]he crisis map of Haiti
represents the most comprehensive and up-to-date map available to the
humanitarian community.” 342
While the great majority of actionable reports collected and mapped
in Ushahidi during the immediate aftermath of the earthquake concerned
food, water, and shelter, a much smaller number dealt with violence. 343 Of
the 3,596 reports generated, only 54 were related to security. 344 However,
these reports, and the U.S. military’s response to them, provide key insight
into the possible role of Crisis Mapping in addressing violent situations in
foreign countries. As noted earlier, many aid workers felt that the delay in
delivering supplies to areas perceived as dangerous due to exaggerated
reports would increase the chance of violence on the part of a disaffected
populace. This view was largely corroborated by reports of possible food
riots posted on Ushahidi: “[r]esidents angry that they have not received aid
have been reported to be building roadblocks between Carrefour and Portau-Prince”
345 and “Angry mobs are moving up route national no. 2 from
the district of Merger. They have set up road blockades and are threatening
to move up the road towards Port-au-Prince. They are angry because they
have not received any food aid. They are also threatening to escalate
violence.” 346 On both occasions, the U.S. Marine Corps responded to the
340 Id. at 8.
341 Id. at 9.
342 Id.
343 See NATHAN MORROW ET AL, INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF USHAHIDI HAITI
PROJECT, DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL USHAHIDI HAITI
PROJECT 21 (2011), available at, http://www.alnap.org/pool/files/1282.pdf.
344 HEINZELMAN & WATERS, supra note 329, at 9.
345 Id. at 10.
346 Id.