Uncovering War Crimes - How Bellingcat Uses Public Data to Reveal the Truth

The War in Ukraine, QAnon, the downing of flight MH-17, or the Syrian Civil War. It seems like there is not much one can do about these topics as an ordinary civilian. But that could not be further from the truth! Researchers and investigators from Bellingcat work day and night to fact-check, catch criminals, and to uncover conspiracies and state secrets. How can they do this from the comfort of their homes? What have they found? And how can you join in as well? Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists based in the Netherlands specialized in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). In this lecture, Annique Mossou will explain to us how she uses publicly available data to research the war in Ukraine as well as conspiracy theories. How can you verify where a picture of an attack was taken and when? What do conspiracy theorists talk about online between each other? Mossou will take us through her work and demonstrate live how you could join their cause as well. Annique Mossou is a trainer and researcher at Bellingcat. In the past she has worked as a police agent and as part of the OSINT-team of the Dutch National Police. Here she specialized in online jihadist propaganda. At Bellingcat her work focuses on mis- and disinformation campaigns, from conspiracy theories to international warfare. About Studium Generale Studium Generale is part of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and organises scientific, social and cultural programmes throughout the year. The programme consist of lectures, debates, a monthly talk show, a monthly Open Stage Night, movie nights, cultural and scientific events and a wide range of workshops, courses and performances. Follow us Instagram: http://bit.ly/2ITWLpA LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3z6HUo8 Facebook: https://bit.ly/2yeHbE3 Website: https://bit.ly/3ertHFQ