Bellingcat uses open-source information to expose wrongdoing

Bellingcat's impact

"Use of open-source information makes Bellingcat distinct from all other news media," says Hannah. "Our investigations are based exclusively on material that's available in the public domain. What's more, we are always completely transparent about how our conclusions are reached. So readers can verify our reports themselves by checking our sources. Since we started in 2014, that unique approach, based on open-source information and the work of citizen journalists, has enabled us to expose a wide variety of injustices, including human rights abuses, civil oppression and war crimes. For example, Bellingcatplayed an important role in revealing the truth about the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. We demonstrated Russian involvementyears before it was confirmed by European officials. The methods used to expose the truth in that case have been used in many other investigations as well. We filter and analyse open-source information and use our findings to create a coherent picture."

Global Authentication Project and the Volunteer Hub

"In order to further facilitate and formalise citizen investigative journalism, we launched the Global Authentication Project in February 2022," Hannah continues. "The project's aim is to expose wrongdoing and to detail and clarify incidents using open-source information. So, for example, we have a team of thirty people working to geolocate incidents, attacks and other events in Ukraine. We've also got about twelve people investigating what's happening in the Aegean region, and we hope to be able to publish their findings soon."

"An important feature of the Global Authentication Project is a platform for collaboration amongst volunteers and investigators around the world, called the Bellingcat Volunteer Hub. Global Authentication Project volunteers can put themselves forward for particular assignments. We always strive for gender parity for each project and as diverse of a team as possible. For the Ukraine investigation, we sought out people who specialise in geolocation:verifying where a photo or video was taken. That involves techniques such as cross-referencing details in photos or videos with other material, such as satellite imagery or with street scenes on Google Maps. As the project's Lead Investigator, my responsibilities include starting, organising and running investigation projects together with my colleague Charlotte Godart. During the project onboarding phase, we inform members about matters relating to social and digital security and the crux of the project. Volunteers assigned to a project can log in to the online collaboration platform, where the project has its own virtual environment. The Volunteer Hub makes it easy for volunteers to work together and share information with one another. The platform also helps us organise and structure our investigations and other work better. That's important, because we have a decentralised set-up, with people spread across twenty-plus countries around the world collaborating online. We're also a growing organisation, with more and more investigators and volunteers joining all the time."

Support from SIDN Fund

"SIDN Fund's financial support has been very helpful to Bellingcat. It's enabled us to create the Volunteer Hub for investigators and volunteers, and to get the Global Authentication Project off to a good start. The platform's source code is open, meaning that other organisations can use it to optimise their own teamwork."

SIDN Fund's CEO Valerie Frissen says, "Bellingcat's work on the MH17 case has demonstrated that an approach based on open-source intelligence, or OSINT, coupled with the tireless work of volunteers, can deliver decisive evidence. I'm sure that Bellingcat is going to be highly influential in relation to the current war in Ukraine as well. SIDN Fund is incredibly proud to have been able to support creation of the new platform for volunteers."

Developments and plans for the future

"We currently have three Global Authentication Project investigations running: the Ukraine event timeline and investigations into events in the Aegean Sea and Tajikistan.We are aiming for five assignments under the Global Authentication Project banner to be complete by the end of 2022. At the same time, we want to continue refining the Volunteer Hub -- adding and integrating spreadsheet support, for example, because we use spreadsheets a lot in our work. Over the last couple years there have been some very positive developments within the organisation and within our work with the community of volunteers. I'm really excited about the impact we can make in the years ahead, with all our investigators and volunteers," says Hannah.

For more about the Global Authentication Project and the Volunteer Hub, contact the Bellingcat team by visiting https://www.bellingcat.com/contact-the-bellingcat-tech-team/ or mailing contact@bellingcat.com.