Peter Gabriel pens editorial encouraging the use of video in legal system

Peter Gabriel - the legendary member of Genesis and solo artist - is the author of an op-ed called "Tech Can Make Video Evidence a Cornerstone of Justice"; published by the magazine "Wired", the article basically encourages the use of video in legal system, to have better trials and a fairer justice in the US.

"How is it that despite compelling video evidence, justice can be so elusive for the victims of police brutality?", asks Gabriel. And thrn he goes further, explaining that despite great portions of our lives are being filmed daily, very little of that is finding its way into political, legal or justice systems. The evidence, in courtrooms, is often based on our "fallible memories, spoken evidence produced long after the event" - something that science proved to be unreliable and often reimagined.

"Injustice is bred in darkness, in closed hearings and in a hidden process in which cozy backroom relationships can develop", Gabriel writes. "In these situations, it is easy to put a slant on a case or prevent critical evidence from being seen or heard. The Internet revolution has exposed so much of what has, for so long, been hidden in our world. It's time for justice to become a new focus".

The former singer of Genesis, then, makes his point encouraging tech companies to create a "proof mode" on video evidence: it would be a powerful tool for investigators, journalists and audiences to know whether a piece of media has been tampered with at all.