Thread by @brechtcastel

5/12/2021: covid protest in #Brussels🇧🇪 ends in #riots.
Police 👮 use water cannon and tear gas, but two kids (11 & 5 yo) are present.

Police brutality or recklessness of the mother?

I looked for #facts in a #visual #investigation.
How? Check 📽️: 1/13

A clip of 17 seconds or less is shared on #Telegram, #Instagram, #Facebook and #Twitter. We see two kids in a chaotic scene.

Someone shares the video with this quote: “Even in North Korea 🇰🇵 they would not dare use a water cannon against children.” 2/13

What really happened?

With the use of open sources (#OSINT) I made a #reconstruction of the events. 3/13

#Verification 🔎
#HowToOSINT 🧐
#FactChecking ✅

I found the original footage, verified time ⏲️ (#chronolocation) and place 📍 (#geolocation) and looked for #context.

I only used free tools, but #OSINT is less about these tools 🛠️ and more about what you do with them!

The mind process behind the #investigation is 🗝️. 4/13

An example: most of us use Google Maps 🗺️, BUT did you know you can measure the distance in a video (the mom & kids walking to the police barricade) with this tool?

I explain how at 7:30 in the video. 👆 5/13

The list of tools 🛠️ I used 👇 is useless in itself, BUT if you know when and how to use them (in a creative way), they can be extremely powerful! 🦸‍♂️

>>> Verify time & location <<<
- YouTube Filters Search (find original footage)
- Google Maps (measure distance ) 6/13

- Google Streetview (#geolocation 📍)
- Twitter (tweets from police)
- Facebook (find different coverage)
- Source code YouTube (#chronolocation ⏲️, thx @nixintel) 7/13

@nixintel >>> Investigate footage <<<
- viewsync.net (compare and synchronize videos, thx @redbanhammer 🙏)
- watchframebyframe.com (watch video in slowmotion, thx @CalumJEadie 🙏)
- Windows Magnifier (zoom in on details 🔎) 8/13

@nixintel @redbanhammer @CalumJEadie I made an English timeline of what happened here: cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3… 9/13

@nixintel @redbanhammer @CalumJEadie You can read my article in Dutch for @Knack here: knack.be/nieuws/factche… 10/13

@nixintel @redbanhammer @CalumJEadie @Knack I hope this #research and #tutorial video can inspire YOU to start some #OSINT investigation. 👍

When you see a (short) clip on social media (without context): don’t spread it. ❌

First #verify, #contextualise and THEN make up your mind. ✅ 11/13

@nixintel @redbanhammer @CalumJEadie @Knack What have we learned? 👩‍🏫

1) Windows Magnifier + watchframebyframe.com shows details which otherwise stay unnoticed. 🧐
2) Footage from different angles gives better insight in a situation. 📐
3) Don’t base your opinion on a short clip on social media. 🤔 12/13

@nixintel @redbanhammer @CalumJEadie @Knack Did you like this #OSINT for #FactChecking?

Follow me (@brechtcastel ) and check out more videos on #YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCMBPt…

Older 🧵🧵 underneath this tweet 👇:

https://twitter.com/brechtcastel/status/1390688405416198145

13/END