Thread by @gianfiorella

RTing this again from yesterday because it's very important:

Crowdsourcing identification efforts go wrong. When they do, they have devastating impacts on the innocent people caught up in them.

cbc.ca/radio/thecurre…

I know the adrenaline rush that you get when you think you've found someone. I get it all the time.

But IDing people is precisely the kind of work that you should not do in a rush.

This work must be deliberate, thorough, methodical, slow.

Rushing to Twitter to post a possible lead (or worse, someone's name or Facebook account because "I think this might be him!") is irresponsible and has caused untold damage to the innocent people that it impacts.

We at @bellingcat only published a definitive match for the Proud Boy who broke @IwriteOK's finger last year after hours of careful deliberation. Our threshold before publishing a name is "100% match, without a single doubt".

https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1298236193793089536

How did we get to that point in this case?

We matched 4 different tattoos across several images (on top of facial features and body type/shape).

"The eyes are sort of the same" or "I think it's the same nose" is nowhere near enough information to drop someone's name.

It's encouraging to see so many people trying to help with these efforts, but please, please please be aware that you can do a tremendous amount of harm if you're wrong.

There's no room for error with this. If in doubt--no matter how miniscule--please do not post/share names.