Raquel Vázquez Llorente

Guest Author

Raquel is the Associate Director of Technology, Threats and Opportunities at WITNESS and a lawyer specializing in audiovisual media in conflict and human rights crises. At WITNESS, she leads a team that critically examines the impact of emerging technologies, especially generative AI and deepfakes, on our trust in audiovisual media. Her policy portfolio also focuses on the operational and regulatory challenges associated with the retention and disclosure of social media content that may be probative of international crimes.

Raquel leads multi-stakeholder engagement with governments, civil society, and tech companies to understand the risks and opportunities of AI and synthetic media, focusing on global perspectives and their implications for those defending democracy and human rights. Her aim is to bridge the gap between policymakers and grassroots groups by developing inclusive AI policies, legislation, and technical solutions centered on the real needs and harms experienced by diverse communities worldwide.

She has extensive experience advising technology companies and nonprofits on legal, operational, and policy matters, particularly in deploying technology and data collection in humanitarian and high-risk settings. With over a decade of experience in issues related to the verification and provenance of digital content, Raquel played a pivotal role in building eyeWitness, an award-winning organization that developed technology to authenticate audiovisual evidence for legal use. Her work facilitated the adoption of new technologies in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe, contributing to the success of the first court case that employed controlled-capture authentication technology—marking a significant advancement in trials for mass atrocities.

Raquel is admitted to the Madrid Bar (Spain). She serves on the Board of The Guardian Foundation, and on the Advisory Board of TRUE, a project that studies the impact of deepfakes on trust in user-generated evidence in accountability processes for human rights violations. She is also a member of PAI (Partnership on AI) Policy Steering Committee, a body considering pressing questions in AI governance. Raquel is a rostered expert at Justice Rapid Response, an organization that deploys specialists to complex international investigations, and was a member of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court. She has held visiting research positions on technology and digital evidence at Oxford University and UC Berkeley School of Law (2019-20). In 2020, Raquel was selected by the Obama Foundation as part of their inaugural class of European Leaders.

Raquel holds an MSc in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and an Advanced Degree in Law and Business Administration from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

She can be found on LinkedIn and X @vazquezllorente.