Fact-Checking Video Narratives Of Conflict

Online videos are an open source for investigation in Syria and Iraq’s war! “Through videos, we can challenge governmental claims by proving incorrect”, said Christian Triebert an analyst and journalist during his presentation at #CheckCon, as well as stated examples from the Syrian and Iraq’s war.

During the Syrian war, Russia published an online video, straight forward on its official website, mentioning a certain location in Syria that is being bombed; meanwhile Bellingcat, a platform for human rights watch, took these published videos and put them on Google. Bellingcat figured out that the location published on Russia’s official YouTube is different from the location given on Google Maps.

Triebert explained, “Bellingcat is not doing a political claiming, but it only verifies if the news is correct.”

Triebert concluded that, through videos, “we can verify the publishers’ own claims, and through internet we can cooperate, investigate, and work on such cases together.”

Christian Triebert is an analyst and journalist. He contributes to the work of Bellingcat, Airwars, and others, conducting fieldwork in a variety of areas including Iraq and Syria. He is specialized in open source investigation related to war and conflict.