News:
How Coronavirus Disinformation Gets Past Social Media Moderators
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced social media companies to take a more active stance against disinformation. The most striking recent example came on March 31, when Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all banned videos from Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. These videos featured Bolsonaro advising the use of an antimalarial, chloroquine, to treat the novel coronavirus. Charlie…
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The Coronavirus Disinformation System: How It Works
Besides viruses, what else is terribly contagious? Lies, of course. As the coronavirus pandemic engulfs the world, disinformation associated with the virus has taken on many forms. Whether it’s your uncle sending you a Tom Hanks meme at 4 a.m. or the current occupant of the White House lying about Barack Obama supposedly harming the…
How Coronavirus Scammers Hide On Facebook And YouTube
On March 16th, 2020, virtually every major social media company released a joint statement on their efforts to curb the spread of disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. As of the writing of this article, the top comment on Facebook’s Twitter post of this statement is, itself, a piece of disinformation, furthering the conspiracy theory that…
Revealed: The Ukrainian Man Who Runs A Neo-Nazi Terrorist Telegram Channel
Even by the low standards of Telegram, an online messaging service that is sometimes described as “a safe haven for pro-terror Nazis”, the Ukrainian-language Telegram channel devoted to praising the Christchurch shooter is an ugly spectacle. The channel, which we will not name as to not promote it, is full of vicious racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia…
Monitoring And Debunking COVID-19 Panic: The “Haarlem Aldi” Hoax
Panicked responses to COVID-19 have triggered strange, yet predictable behavior from people all around the world as they attempt to protect themselves and their families. Some of the most common images and videos circulating on the internet show emptied grocery stores, huge lines at checkout counters, and by now the all-too-familiar disappearing toilet paper. In…
A Post Mortem Of Russia’s Claim That Crucial MH17 Video Evidence Was Falsified
During day two of the MH17 criminal court proceedings in the Netherlands, the prosecution team disclosed that the Russian Federation had challenged the authenticity of a video recording of the BUK Telar, made on 17 July 2014, near the presumed launch site at Snizhne. This video is a crucial piece in the chain of evidence…
The Impossible Conspiracy Fueling Russia’s MH17 Defence
Ahead of the commencement of the MH17 trials in the Netherlands on March 9, 2020, various Russian government officials have made statements defending Russia against accusations that Russia provided the Buk missile launcher that shot down MH17 on July 17, 2014. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova complained of “planted news citing some…
Syria Shootout Demonstrates Precarious Environment For U.S. Forces
A single checkpoint in Northeastern Syria recently became a flashpoint — and in our latest Bellingcat collaboration with Newsy, we show you how. U.S. troops have patrolled the Turkish-Syria border since 2017. This is a means of trying to keep tensions at bay between numerous local factions. This has particularly concerned Turkey — which is,…
Greek Security Services May Be Using Potentially Lethal Tear Gas Munitions
Images and videos from social media suggest that Greek security services may be using a similar kind of tear gas round that has resulted in the serious injury or death of scores of protesters in Iraq. Images and videos posted by journalists, activists and Turkish politicians show expended munitions in the vicinity of protests by…
An Officer And A Diplomat: The Strange Case Of The GRU Spy With A Red Notice
In its original series of investigations in 2018, Bellingcat identified three GRU officers: Maj. Gen. Denis Sergeev, Col. Anatoliy Chepiga and Col. Alexander Mishkin, M.D., linked to the March 2018 Novichok poisonings in Salisbury. In several follow-up reports, Bellingcat and its investigative partner The Insider disclosed the existence of a clandestine GRU team earmarked and…
Resources:
Bellingcat Now Offering Online Investigation Training Workshops
With our in-person workshops delayed due to ongoing concerns from COVID-19, Bellingcat is now offering online training workshops. These workshops will be held at a reduced price compared to our in-person trainings. We will hold sessions of varying length and on different topics over the coming months, in sessions ranging from a few hours to…
Investigating Coronavirus Fakes And Disinfo? Here Are Some Tools For You
There is no dignified way of putting it — the world has gone bananas as the COVID-19 pandemic rages. When the threat of deadly infection is mixed with the peculiar rush of going viral, people are bound to spread fakes. Even those of us who mean well. Many Bellingcat team members are impacted by this…
New Bellingcat Workshops Announced for May – September 2020
Bellingcat will hold a series of workshops in spring 2020, including: Geneva: May 4 – 8 Washington DC: June 22 – 26 Amsterdam: June 22 – 26 Berkeley, California July 6 – 10 London: July 6 – 10 Paris: August 3 – 7 London: September 7 – 11 Please email us at workshops@bellingcat.com with the information…
Bellingcat Is Hiring: Editor (Europe-Based, Part-Time) – Applications Closed
Who We Are: Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists using open source and social media investigations to probe a variety of subjects: crime, conflicts, corruption, secret operations, mis- and disinformation, extremist groups, and much more. We have received multiple awards for our groundbreaking research and publications that shine a…
New Bellingcat Workshops Announced for February – April 2020
Bellingcat will hold a series of workshops in spring 2020, including: Amsterdam: February 17 – 21 (FULL, wait-list available) London: March 2 – 6 (FULL, wait-list available) New York City: March 2 – 6 (FULL, wait-list available) Berlin: March 30 – April 3 (FULL, wait-list available) Toronto: April 27 – May 1 Please email us…
Guide To Using Reverse Image Search For Investigations
Reverse image search is one of the most well-known and easiest digital investigative techniques, with two-click functionality of choosing “Search Google for image” in many web browsers. This method has also seen widespread use in popular culture, perhaps most notably in the MTV show Catfish, which exposes people in online relationships who use stolen photographs…
Massive White Supremacist Message Board Leak: How to Access and Interpret the Data
Update: The Internet Archive has removed the SQL leak; however, the information is freely available via a torrent file (download here) or a Magnet link (click here, or copy/paste the link into a torrent client). Today, the entire SQL database from Iron March, a now-defunct neo-Nazi / white supremacist message board, was posted onto the…
New Bellingcat Workshop Announced for Washington D.C.
Bellingcat will hold a new workshop in Washington D.C. on December 9-13. Our planned workshops for the remainder of 2019 are as follows: London: December 9-13 (Full, with lengthy wait-list) Washington D.C.: December 9-13 (Full, with short wait-list) Please email us at workshops@bellingcat.com with the information requested below if you would like to attend. Name…
Sign Up For CryptOsint Today!
Issue #2: “What does Libra mean for open source investigators?” CryptOsint is a news round-up dedicated to covering who is using blockchain technology and how they’re doing it. Think of it as the intersection between open source investigations and the crypto world. Through CryptOsint, you will discover weekly content that will help you make sense…
A Beginner’s Guide To Flight Tracking
Flight tracking is an accessible and useful tool for open source investigators. Being able to track the movements of aircraft belonging to powerful individuals and armed forces can add important details to stories, or even uncover entire new narratives. There are several commercial and hobby websites that allow us to do just that. The purpose…