I think it\u2019s interesting how open source intelligence allows for reporting crimes that can not be reached by journalist, reporters, or most people other than those directly affected. Of course, open source reporting needs verification and that teams are dedicated to corroborating footage to document war crimes to fight disinformation or propaganda campaigns (which mainstream journalism from either side is used to disseminate).<\/p>\n
Perhaps open source data, if taken at face value, could be the best bet to access objective facts about the war. Some things I thought were cool was using facial recognition to identify military personnel, enabling citizen reports through government apps, and corroborating data procured through uploads by satellite footage. It is amazing how data and narratives from both sides of the war can be used to construct a fuller picture \u2014 which mainstream journalism perhaps forms just a part of. It is amazing to me how much can be understood from the data, entire buildings reconstructed, timeline of army advances revealed, people in command identified, the use of chemical weapons and based on impact photos whether they were dropped from the air or the ground revealed. Open source intelligence just widens our scope of knowledge by an exponential amount, casting this wide data net and then sifting through it to create a story. The common narrative I found in the readings was that of justice \u2014 that open source intelligence allows us to document attack on hospitals, use of chemical weapons, and other war crimes perpetrated by either part in the conflict.<\/p>\n
There is a sense in which the agents in the Al Jazeera documentary were looking for very specific things in the data set, it is a directed search. It is interesting, then, to me that open source intelligence is often directed by the intent of documenting crimes so that they may one day be presented in court and justice will be administered to those who suffered so incredibly. Generally, we document for historical reasons \u2014 and until the Nuremberg trials we didn\u2019t think prosecution for crimes on an international level was feasible. Information is hard to have concentrated ownership of in today\u2019s world \u2014 which is a blessing \u2014 but to think that power isn\u2019t concentrated would be astray. With the current international order it appears we require the cooperation of the perpetrators (or their allies) to prosecute them in any meaningful way \u2014 this leaves us at a standstill. It is difficult to say, when, or if the global powers will be brought to justice. I\u2019m not hinting that open source intelligence should not document the war and war crimes, I think they should \u2014 but perhaps not just with the focus of creating a case. Perhaps if we used this treasure trove of data in other ways, I wonder what we would unearth.<\/p>\n
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I think it\u2019s interesting how open source intelligence allows for reporting crimes that can not be reached by journalist, reporters, or most people other than those directly affected. Of course, open source reporting needs verification and that teams are dedicated to corroborating footage to document war crimes to fight disinformation or propaganda campaigns (which mainstream<\/p>\n