The world's leading open-source intelligence collective didn't start with a grand mission for justice. Its founder, Eliot Higgins, taught himself geolocation skills simply to prove he was right in online debates about the Syrian and Libyan conflicts.
A key investigative advantage for Bellingcat is Russia's systemic corruption, which makes nearly all government data—from passport registrations to cell phone location records—available for purchase. This "gray market" was instrumental in identifying the Skripal and Navalny poisoners.
Higgins reveals that some of the best investigative leads come from hyper-niche communities. Plane spotters uncovered CIA rendition flights, and the foot fetish community on WikiFeet instantly debunked a fake photo of a politician by correctly identifying the feet.
Higgins states that once a false perception is established online, it's nearly impossible to change minds. His team rushes to inject verified information into the public discourse within hours of an event to counter inevitable disinformation and shape the conversation.
The old social contract, where trusted institutions delivered verified facts, is broken. Higgins argues we now live in a many-to-many system where institutions must compete for attention against the public on platforms that algorithmically reward engagement over truth.
Higgins criticizes the common approach of trying to solve misinformation by simply removing it. This "supply-side" fix is ineffective because the root cause is a "demand-side" issue: a public that distrusts institutions and actively seeks alternative narratives in online spaces.
According to Higgins, the most dangerous aspect of AI isn't its ability to generate sophisticated fakes. It's that the mere existence of AI provides a convenient, irrefutable excuse for anyone to dismiss legitimate photos or videos that challenge their worldview.