Bellingcat
 Bellingcat   
 | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2014 |
| Type | blog |
| Interest of | Richard Engel, Machiavelli Foundation, Anatoly Shariy, Brian Whitaker |
| Member of | EXPOSE Network |
| Sponsored by | Adam Smith International, Adessium Foundation, Google News Initiative, National Endowment for Democracy, ProtonMail, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Swedish Postcode Foundation |
| Investigator of current events using open source information. | |
https://bellingcat.com/ : "by and for citizen investigative journalists" Choose random, anonymous (and probably fake) images from social media to suit whatever point you want to make - no need for any verification whatsoever.
Contents
Background of founder
In Oct 2012, Eliot Higgins was laid off from his job as an administrator at a nonprofit providing housing for asylum seekers.
In Aug 2013, Eliot Higgins noticed Twitter reports of a possible chemical-weapons attack in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.
In Nov 2013, Eliot Higgins "confirmed" that Syria had used chemical weapons[1], without noticing that it was not the Syrian government that carried out the attacks[2].
Bellingcat funding
On 15 Jul 2014, Eliot Higgins started a new website called Bellingcat for citizen journalism to investigate current events using open source information such as videos, maps and pictures. It was funded by a KickStarter campaign (£50,891 at 13 Sep 2014 from 1,701 contributions)[3]. The Kickstarter funding model is based on a cash-for gifts/favours model: backers "get to choose from a variety of unique rewards offered by the project creator. Rewards vary from project to project ..."[4]
Also of possible note: Kickstarter "Projects can’t mislead people or misrepresent facts, and creators should be candid about what they plan to accomplish"[5]. From the project home page: "bellingcat.com will unite citizen investigative journalists to use open source information to report on issues that are being ignored . . . Bellingcat will be an extension of Eliot’s work on the Brown Moses blog. ."[6]
Until the creation of Bellingcat, the Brown Moses blog had not been concerned with events in Ukraine.[7] Another difference is that whereas the Brown Moses blog was non-commercial, Bellingcat is now obviously a commercial venture.
Mystery MH17 Buk in Torez
On 18 Jul 2014, Bellingcat "Found The Buk Missile Launcher That Downed Flight MH17" - though the photograph, widely claimed to have been taken in the town of Snizhne, was actually taken in the town of Torez and under weather conditions significantly different to those on the day of the MH17 crash.[8] [9] Eliot Higgins (proprietor of Bellingcat: known for investigative social media and weapons analysis) didn't consider when the photograph was taken to be important. The photo used by Bellingcat in the "investigation" as to the location of the BUK was uploaded on 18 July 2014 at 18:26:41. This "investigation" as to the location of the BUK" is an unusual way to go about things. Why not simply ask the person who took it or whoever supplied it? And why not ask when it was taken?
2014 Jul 18, 8:36 PM: Within a minute or so of Brown Moses tweeting that the Buk had been geolocated to Torez, James Miller (managing editor of Interpretermag) commented: "cool. Where?"[10]. James Miller, coincidentally, had been asked to geolocate the image (which appears to have originated from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry) only the day before[11].
Mystery MH17 Buks that didn't get geolocated
Sergey Paschenko
Captioned by TheDaily Mail as: "Is this the smoking gun? This picture has emerged of a pro-Russian rebel posing in front of the same type of BUK missile launcher that is believed to have shot down MH17" Though,actually, it is a Ukrainian Army conscript.
321 at night
James Foley execution location
On 23 Aug 2014, Bellingcat made an estimate of the exact location where the James Foley execution video was made (outside Raqqa, an Islamic State stronghold in north-central Syria)[12], yet failed to notice that the video itself was a fake[13] [14].
Mystery MH17 Buk in transit
On 08 Sep 204, Belingcat claimed "New evidence has been found that shows the Buk missile system that was used to shoot down MH17 on the 17th of July came from Russia, and was most likely operated by Russian soldiers."[15]. The source for there being a Russian BUK in Ukraine is The Ministry of internal Affairs of Ukraine. It is shown on a civilian transporter, whereas those shown in Russia are on military transporters. It is alleged to have been in Luhansk and heading towards the Russian border, which is not the ideal route for getting from Torez to Russia. It has a white patch on its right-hand side and no railings: basically, that's it. This "new evidence" has been manipulated into the Wikipedia article, courtesy of the accounts: My very best wishes, Sayerslle, Geogene, Stickee and Martinevans123 [1] [2]
Related Quotations
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatoly Shariy | “[...], according to many experts, it's an MI6 organization.” | Anatoly Shariy | 18 October 2020 |
| Zinc Network | “Bringing together organisations including Zinc Network, the Institute for Statecraft, Aktis Strategy, Bellingcat, DFR Lab, the Media Diversity Institute, Toro Risk Solutions and Ecorys, our Consortium combines recognised market leaders in understanding, monitoring, and countering Kremlin-backed disinformation... This ecosystem of credible voices will continue to grow, exposing the actors and networks behind Kremlin-backed disinformation, reducing unwitting multipliers of disinformation, and building resilience amongst key target audiences across Europe.
We will mobilise a Network Hub based in London, led by an experienced Project Director, consisting of an agile team with core competencies augmented by a wider pool of vetted experts. Our approach is highly localised, based around regional clusters of actors who can collaborate to effectively undermine the disinformation ecosystem in their respective areas and engage audiences most vulnerable to disinformation... It is a highly complex project involving coordination of many independent actors, and thus risk must be carefully managed and risk profiles constantly adapted, serving as the basis for all activity. The approach we propose is based on the identification, monitoring and management of risks as they materialise, allowing members to continue taking smart risks as they increase the scale and impact of their activities.” |
Sponsors
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Adam Smith International | London-based consultancy charged with overseeing the overseas work of the Adam Smith Institute. Used by British intelligence services to train puppet police forces in the Middle East. |
| Adessium Foundation | A secretive Dutch foundation that donates to projects backed by Western governments. |
| Google News Initiative | Google and the deep state buying domination over corporate media and creating tools to censor independent voices. |
| National Endowment for Democracy | The "traditional intermediary of the CIA", promoting the US "national interest" abroad by financing groups and individuals. |
| ProtonMail | Email and VPN server originally located in formally neutral Switzerland to avoid US/NATO surveillance or "information requests", but this has been hollowed out. |
| Sigrid Rausing Trust | |
| Swedish Postcode Foundation |
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:British govt funded plan for censorship of factual NATO criticism | Article | 3 October 2023 | Jack Poulson | Leaked documents reveal British intel contractor Zinc Network singled out The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal for online censorship, and seeks to redefine factual criticism of NATO as disinformation |
| Document:Metropolitan Police on 'Chepiga' and 'Mishkin' | blog post | 12 October 2018 | Craig Murray | I remain of the view that the best way forward would be for Putin to negotiate conditions under which Boshirov and Petrov might voluntarily come to the UK for trial |
| Document:Staged ISIS Videos are the Plot of Iron Man 3 | article | 14 September 2014 | Jay Dyer | Predictive programming and fake news - an analysis of the ISIS 'beheading' videos and 'Iron Man 3' |
| Document:Upskilling to Upscale: Unleashing the Capacity of Civil Society to Counter Disinformation | project plan | June 2018 | Integrity Initiative | A central II-document. The master plan for a huge network of British-directed NGOs in Europe. ‘Disinformation’ refers to everything not fitting the Western government narrative... |
| Document:Why some people are spreading false rumours about the Texas gunman | Article | 9 May 2023 | Shayan Sardarizadeh Mike Wendling | The BBC factchecks the recent 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting regarding the alleged Nazism of the Hispanic shooter |
Rating
References
- ↑ Rocket Man: How an unemployed blogger confirmed that Syria had used chemical weapons
- ↑ NYT Backs Off Its Syria-Sarin Analysis
- ↑ KickStarter: Bellingcat, for and by citizen investigative journalists
- ↑ What do backers get in return?
- ↑ Kickstarter:Our Rules
- ↑ Bellingcat project home page on Kickstarter
- ↑ Google search for ukraine in the Brown Moses blog
- ↑ How Open Source Investigation Found The Buk Missile Launcher That Downed Flight MH17
- ↑ Identifying the Location of the MH17 Linked Missile Launcher From One Photograph
- ↑ Bellingcat <> Interpretermag tweets
- ↑ wake up kid! From Snitzhe this morning: Maybe u can geolocate it its a BUK sa-17
- ↑ The Hills of Raqqa – Geolocating the James Foley Video
- ↑ James Foley FAKE Execution - Video Analysis Reveals the Truth
- ↑ Staged ISIS Videos Exemplify Fake News
- ↑ Images Show the Buk that Downed Flight MH17, Inside Russia, Controlled by Russian Troops
