this from my piece on charlie kirk is probably the most important takeaway if you want to know why bad faith, right-wing voices in media are treated as just another set of peers

I'm re-starting my charity Twitch streams starting tonight at 7:00 PM EST via @extralife4kids.bsky.social! Come hang out in the chat, and if you've got a dollar, donate it to Toronto's SickKids Hospital. 100% of proceeds go directly to the hospital! www.twitch.tv/gianfiorel

The Groyper Wars

the groypers sure seem to think Charlie Kirk was killed by a groyper

On-the-ground view of an IDF forward operating base located at the Al-Furqan Primary School. SkySat imagery from @planet.com shows the IDF first appeared in the vicinity of the school mid-August. Still there as of September 1 imagery.

🛰️ New! @bellingcat.com’s @foeke.bsky.social tested 24 versions of popular AI platforms on geolocation challenges — with surprising results. Read the findings here 👉

We're very pleased to announce Bellingcat and @texasobserver.org won this award- congratulations to @tristanl.ee and @stevanzetti.bsky.social for their hard work on this series of reporting. The winners of the category 'general excellence in an online newsroom' will be announced in September.

Something to note on the Nasser Hospital attack — there's a direct line of sight to the Reuters livestream position to a large IDF excavation northeast of the hospital. The livestream had even filmed what appear to be two IDF tanks moving in the area on Aug 21: www.youtube.com/live/uN78d9M...

More testing of LLMs for journalism, this time on identifying image location, date, and source. By @aisvarya17.bsky.social and @klaudia.bsky.social with some of my own commentary. www.cjr.org/tow_center/w... @columjournreview.bsky.social

In the Netherlands, a 24-year-old man from Erp was arrested yesterday in Badhoevedorp, near Amsterdam, on suspicion of preparing a terrorist offense. The suspect is believed to be a member of Geuzenbond, a far-right group we wrote about last year @bellingcat.com www.rtl.nl/nieuws/binne...

In May, we, alongside CBC's Visual Investigation Unit, @tjekdet.dk and @politiken.dk revealed the identity of the key administrator behind one of the largest AI porn sites. Dutch politicians across political parties are now calling for the Canadian to be extradited. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Two months have passed since we last tested AI models against our geolocation skillsets. Within that time more advanced models like GPT-5 and Google AI mode have launched. So @foeke.bsky.social is back again to put the chatbots to work… www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Sometimes people ask me if this is a bad thing for open source investigators, AI taking replacing one of our core skills, but a) you still need to have the skills to doublecheck it, and b) anything that makes geolocation faster is always welcome.

GPT-5 is a significant downgrade in terms of geolocation capability. Find our latest benchmark update below

It appears GeoSpy is giving demos to other law enforcement agencies too. The founder uploaded this redacted photo. I thought it looked like the Secret Service logo, so I phoned them. They said it was in Miami field office, but demo was for local law enforcement www.404media.co/lapd-eyes-ge...

Nothing is permanent on social media. Users deleting their posts or webpages can lead to the erasure of a trail of evidence that may be crucial to your investigations. But how do you keep that data? We've updated our Auto Archiver tool to make archiving easier... www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

AI mode within regular Google search, available outside the EU, is the best of these at geolocation now, barely beating GPT o4-mini-high and way, way faster. Will test GPT-5 when I can

What was known as the Huwara pogrom in early 2023, happens now daily. Settler-colonial violence burns Palestinians their properties, destroys their belongings, steals their land, restricts their freedom of movement and kills their loved ones in the West Bank. www.972mag.com/settler-impu...

AI maakt misleiding makkelijk – hoe biedt OSINT tegenwicht? www.instagram.com/rewindhuman/...

Bellingcat’s J&A helped build mechanisms for open source research to enhance legal accountability, particularly in atrocity crimes. This is the final research to be conducted by @bellingcat.com as part of this team but GLAN is continuing its OSI accountability work. j-and-a.glanlaw.org/kharkiv.

“If they run, we go” -ICE ICE has shown no signs of slowing down its raids, which, according to our analysis, appear targeted. From car washes to Home Depots, to a display of force and intimidation, these masked agents have stretched across LA, rounding up people with brown skin.

We ran 500 tests and: LLMs are quickly passing the threshold of being the most useful tool out there, if you're looking for the location of a photo from scratch.

We all know AI models can now create realistic images and videos but how do they fare at identifying where a real image was taken? Bellingcat researchers have put Large Language Models to the test: www.bellingcat.com/resources/ho...

We ran 500 tests and: LLMs are quickly passing the threshold of being the most useful tool out there, if you're looking for the location of a photo from scratch.

On #WorldEnvironmentDay we're here to remind you that open source research tools can be useful for monitoring environmental damage. Here's a short list of a few tools we've previously highlighted or used in our own investigations... 🧵

A major leak exposing Russian nuclear bases has been revealed by investigative journalists from Danwatch and Der Spiegel. The Russian facilities are in the Orenburg region, south of the Ural mountains and near the city of Yasny.

"X is racist. The only thing up for debate is whether this is a feature or a bug for those in charge," writes Charlie Warzel.

Israel has rapidly accelerated its destruction of Rafah in April and May. It's hard to understand the magnitude of this, even when spending time analyzing recent satellite imagery. From me, Samuel Granados, Aaron Boxerman, and @rileymellen.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I have written many healthcare stories, but never before have I written about my own health. I decided to do so after learning one of my drugs costs nearly $1,000 a pill and just 25 cents to make. What I found was an incredible story of discovery and exploitation. www.propublica.org/article/revl...

On Twitter/X, users have figured out prompts to get Grok (their built in AI) to generate images of women in bikinis, lingerie, and the like. What an absolute oversight, yet totally expected from a platform like Twitter/X. I've tried to blur a few examples of it below.

Why is it crucial to report on AI-powered 'nudifying' sites that produce non-consensual intimate imagery? At the International Journalism Festival, Bellingcat's @koltai.bsky.social shared insights from her research into these platforms and their funding models. www.youtube.com/shorts/QlNON...

Lisa Broekhuizen from Space4Good helped us explore how satellite imagery can be used to monitor deforestation but also for a lot more when it comes to environmental damage. Missed it? You can listen back on all podcast platforms now under 'Stage Talks with Bellingcat'. rss.com/podcasts/bel...

👏👏👏 Dam Coffee makes it look easy!

Boeren spuiten het omstreden bestrijdingsmiddel glyfosaat om onkruid te doden en grasland te vernieuwen – vaak op akkers vlak bij bewoonde gebieden. Nu blijkt dat het gif vooral wordt ingezet voor de teelt van veevoer, zoals snijmaïs en gras, en dus niet voor voedsel dat op ons bord belandt.

The new Bellingcat Challenge is out, this time focused on animals, and I'm already stuck on this one, so prove you're smarter and better than me in every way by trying it yourself here challenge.bellingcat.com

It's the first week of April, which means a brand new series of challenges is launching this week! This month, we’re tracking wildlife in the Bellingcat Open Source Challenge. challenge.bellingcat.com

Featured in Sora's top images generated this month. It's been up for over a week. Bit lax moderation by OpenAI if you ask me.

A Mars bar wrapper promoting the 1994 World Cup. A McChicken box from 1996. One Bird Nest, 30 Years of Human Trash By @emilyanthes.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Auto Archiver v1.0.0 is out 🎉 Now with documentation, guides, tests, and new exciting features. A big thanks to @erinhmclark.bsky.social and Patrick Robertson who went out of their way to improve the quality and reliability of the tool. See what changed here: github.com/bellingcat/a...

Reminder: We have a paid opportunity for freelance OSINT folks interested in environment and wildlife: www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...

The WSJ is hiring an OSINT reporter. Based in NYC, with pay in the low 100s: wsj.jobs/new-york-ny/...

Have questions about pitching an environment / wildlife OSINT story to us? Then come ask them live in 10 mins!

Great work documenting the impact of a rare earth mining boom.

Satellite imagery reveals vast scars on Myanmar’s landscape with once lush forests now stripped bare by mining. 🔽

I'm revisiting this Bellingcat article from a year and a half ago on using LLMs for geolocating photos. I don't think Bing and Bard were particularly good models even then, but today's models are a lot better. Especially with tools. 1/ www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Come work with us!

Elon Musk's social media platform X has suspended several accounts belonging to opposition figures in Turkey amid widespread civil unrest in the country.