When reporting on war and human rights violations, access to verified information is not always easy to come by. This leads to an increased risk of journalists spreading false information. Open-source investigation could change this.

On 11 January 2023, German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk announced in its lunchtime news programme: “The Ukrainian army has refuted claims made by Russia’s Wagner group of mercenaries that they have taken over the town of Soledar. Army representatives gave assurances on Telegram…”

Wait a minute: Did a public broadcaster just quote statements made via the messenger service Telegram as a source?

Indeed, it is difficult for foreign media to research or verify human rights violations on site. This is especially the case when they occur in the context of war, like currently in Ukraine, or when governments restrict access for journalists, such as in the Chinese region of Xinjiang where Muslim citizens are being forcibly interned.

Journalists, therefore, increasingly resort to open-source information: sources that are freely accessible from anywhere in the world. This includes social media posts and videos by local people as well as documents published by governments.

Accessing such sources, however, leads to a dilemma: How can I verify whether the claims made in the Wagner group’s Facebook post that they have taken the Ukrainian town of Soledar are in fact true? How can I be sure that the video published by an activist from Xinjiang is not a fake?

Open-source investigation holds new potential for media

Open-source investigation could be one of the solutions. Experts use technical tools and methods of analysis to assess the published images and texts to establish whether they are based on actual facts.

Instead of copying open-source data such as Facebook posts in an unreflected manner and thereby spreading false information, journalists should verify such data first or have them verified – even if this means delaying the publication of a news item or missing a scoop.

Open-source investigation employs a multitude of analytical tools, ranging from algorithms that identify images to cross-checks with satellite images and databases collecting false information.

Although some of these tools are already employed by the media – for instance in comprehensive investigative research such as the China Cables that eventually uncovered the human rights violations in Xinjiang – most news desks do not have the necessary expertise, time and funding.

Increased collaboration between teams carrying out open-source investigation and journalists is therefore doubly worth the effort: One group contributes the necessary expertise and the other the necessary outreach.

Training in open-source investigation is also valuable. Desks should increasingly make use of it and prepare their journalists for correctly dealing with open-source data.