‘I love niche interests,’ says Eliot Higgins (46). ‘That's how you discover things everyone else overlooks. In the nineties, the CIA had a secret network of aircraft to transfer prisoners between so-called black sites. This was discovered by plane spotters who kept records of all those aircraft and eventually recognised a pattern. They would never have noticed this if they hadn’t been obsessed with planes.’
With that mindset, he founded Bellingcat in 2014. ‘It was a volunteer organisation at first. Everyone was guided by personal interests. That’s how we started investigating MH17 and the conflicts in Ukraine.’ Since then, the platform for citizen journalism has grown into a professional organisation with dozens of researchers in permanent employment.
On Friday, during the celebration of Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, Higgins will receive an honorary doctorate for his contributions to the use of open-source intelligence to guarantee historical accuracy and fair legal proceedings. But having a personal interest in niche topics remains important, Higgins says via video link from his home in Leicester, England. ‘It’s a key aspect of our work, and I still look for it when bringing new people on board.’
DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
His researchers use all kinds of public sources, from journals and newspapers to forum posts and social media content. In the latter category in particular, people leave behind more traces than they think, even when they are involved in potential war crimes. ‘In the course of a specific conflict, they might eventually find out that they need to hide their digital footprint better. However, conflicts emerge in new places across the world all the time, so there’s always some material to investigate at any given place.’
Higgins is well-aware of the fact that such investigations expose staff to traumatising footage, for example the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack in Syria. ‘I know there have been human rights organisations in the not-too-distant past that didn’t realise that such footage can be just as traumatic as witnessing events first-hand. Anyone who approaches this research with the notion that you should simply push through is an idiot and shouldn’t be working in this profession. It’s not healthy to minimise the damage that such footage can cause. We take a very open stance on mental health – ensuring everyone has access to support and encouraging them to make use of it.’
ACCOUNTABILITY
How does he personally cope with such footage? ‘Whether I look at it or not: all those terrible things are happening. But if we decide to investigate them, at least there’s a chance that someone will be held accountable. And then the next time people consider committing a war crime, they might be more aware that they can be caught.’
Higgins’ honorary doctorate is specifically in recognition of his work enabling the prosecution of war crimes – something Bellingcat prioritises from the start of an investigation. ‘We set up a separate unit for justice and accountability so that the investigation can be of maximum benefit in a potential legal trial from the very beginning.
In addition, Higgins believes it is important to pass on those skills to the next generation. ‘They get almost all their news from social media. That might seem scary to older people, who tend to think only of TikTok dances or Andrew Tate. But I see potential.’
The great thing about open-source research is how accessible it is. Encyclopaedic knowledge of Russian anti-aircraft missiles is certainly not a requirement, he assures. ‘God, no. Absolutely not. Anyone can do it. Geolocation (determining the location of a photo, Ed.) is one of the core skills of open source. You just need to keep trying, and you’ll get better at it as you go along. We recently started posting challenges on our website, where you have to pinpoint the location of a photo.
COMMUNITIES
‘There are games such as Case of the Golden Idol or The Roottrees Are Dead that teach you useful open-source investigation skills. I highly recommend them.
‘We also have a Discord community with over 30,000 members. Several articles have been published based on their contributions. Some do it for fun or out of interest in a particular topic, but a Bellingcat publication also looks great on your CV.
‘At Bellingcat, we build networks and communities, we train people and enable them to conduct investigations. If they can’t do that, they will end up turning to conspiracy theories and extreme ideologies out of distrust and cynicism. Looking at what’s happening in the United States right now with Elon Musk, we really need to take action. By teaching people critical thinking skills, you make democracy more resilient.’