Using Open Source Intelligence to Get the Truth on the War in Ukraine
The invention of the internet and its widespread use throughout the world has completely changed our way of life. And with the Ukraine war effort, it may be cutting through the so-called “fog of war” by enabling people from across the world to fact-check Russian (dis)information campaigns.
How is this possible?
According to 20-year-old Justin Peden, some of the tools are right at anybody’s disposal: he uses geolocation, satellite imagery, TikTok, and Instagram to monitor the war in Ukraine. These platforms will turn up streaming videos and still photos, which can be used to pinpoint Russian troop locations and air bombardments accurately in real time. When Russian commanders inevitably deny the attack, Peden and other “war watchers” post their evidence and process.
“War watching” is a new kind of civilian intelligence that utilizes the same open data that Peden uses in order to stay ahead of Russian disinformation. The propaganda movement from the Russian government operates at high volume. Russian people and neighboring countries experience an overwhelming amount of propaganda from every medium and channel. The propaganda repeats itself incessantly, but the story may change from message to message without warning. The new message will then play over and over and over and over again to a captive audience.
With Russia now interfering with information on the world stage, staying ahead of the propaganda machine can be exhausting. So how can journalists and citizens interested in “war watching” best participate in these efforts?
Here are some valuable tips.
CULTIVATE YOUR SOURCES
TikTok and Instagram rely on an algorithm in order to know what content to show—you’ll need to do some curating of your account in order to build a collection of reliable sources that you can interact with both directly and indirectly. WhatsApp contacts can provide lots of real-time, encrypted footage—and WhatsApp and Signal anti-disinformation channels can provide you with all the sources you could ever need. These are particularly good for providing real-time updates.
QUICK REPLIES
Getting ahead of misinformation means refuting it clearly, concisely, and quickly. As soon as is humanly possible, provide an unambiguous assessment of the misinformation and provide corrections that give the full picture once the false claims are removed. Share your sources and process.
EMPHASIZE CORRECT INFORMATION
The misinformation in the article you’ll be refuting is already out there–you don’t need to repeat it or reiterate it for the reader. Focus on emphasizing correct information rather than any false claims made by the propaganda machine-chances are, they’re making that claim on repeat and they definitely don’t need your help to spread it around.
POST CLEAR AND VISUALLY VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE WITH APPROPRIATELY CITED SOURCES
People are going to want to fact check your fact check. Including the actual evidence you used to debunk the misinformation, marked, if necessary, and citing links to the original sources is how a reader can reconstruct your fact-checking process.
CONTEXTUALIZE PROPAGANDA FOR READERS
The strategies behind this particular brand of Russian disinformation, called the “Russian Firehose of Falsehoods,” though chaotic on the surface, are not random. They refer to the strategy Russia employs, which is to overwhelm consumers with a constant stream of lies and misinformation from every channel possible, until consumers are no longer able to differentiate the truth from reality. Simple journalistic checks disprove propaganda, but the ultimate strategy of disinformation campaigns isn’t about the truth or lies.
All of these are basic journalistic strategies, but a little bit of special application when it comes to using open-source intelligence to fight propaganda is necessary. This work is important—it provides truth to a world that a major world power is trying to deceive. Ukrainians deserve for the world to see the truth.
