Brecht Castel Profile picture
May 15 β€’ 10 tweets β€’ 11 min read
WHERE was a photo taken or a video recorded? πŸ€” This quest is called #GeoLocation.

Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's very hard.🀨 But it's always exciting to find the exact spot. πŸ“πŸ₯³

How can you start doing this yourself? πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž#GeoLocation 🌍#HowToOSINT 🧐
First you should watch or read a tutorial or 2.

I can recommend this one from @BenDoBrown: or my quest for a tree in Africa: 2/...
@BenDoBrown ⚠️ But stop consulting tutorials in time.

You can easily get impressed by very complicated research methods πŸ‘‡ @nixintel . (Don't use them when you start.)

It is much more important to TRY it yourself. 3/...
nixintel.info/osint/planes-a…
@BenDoBrown @nixintel You learn geolocation (as most things) by trial and error.

There are a lot of fun opportunities to give it a try.

You can play a free game called GeoGuessr for example: geoguessr.com 🌏4/...
@BenDoBrown @nixintel You can also follow a great account called @quiztime for some great daily #OSINT and #geolocation challenges.

You can collaborate, so you're not alone. 🀝 5/...
@BenDoBrown @nixintel @quiztime All the above is just great FUN πŸ‘†, but you can - at the same time - also help other people!

Three examples. πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡ 6/...
@BenDoBrown @nixintel @quiztime You find some footage of the war in #Ukraine and you cannot find it on this map: tinyurl.com/2uas5rjp?

Try to find the location yourself, tag @geoconfirmed and you are helping to document this war. 😲 7/...
@BenDoBrown @nixintel @quiztime @GeoConfirmed You can also help people to find where a picture from World War I or II has been taken in this Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/3348614… πŸ‘΅8/...
@BenDoBrown @nixintel @quiztime @GeoConfirmed And - last but definitely not least - you can help Wikipedia! πŸ’»πŸ“š

@WikiCommons has 1000s of pics (contemporary and historical) from unidentified locations πŸ‘‡. (via @pigsonthewing) 9/10
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:…
@BenDoBrown @nixintel @quiztime @GeoConfirmed @WikiCommons @pigsonthewing Good luck to YOU in starting with #geolocation! πŸ“βœ…

πŸŽ‰It's great fun AND it can help important investigations. πŸŽ‰

(And if you're stuck: ask help with hashtag #OSINT. πŸ˜‰ We are kind. ) 10/END

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More from @brechtcastel

May 13
Had two great #OSINT 🧐 days in πŸ‡³πŸ‡±: gave an interview at Arda πŸŽ₯, met a young talented investigator πŸ₯£ and talked at @VOGIN_IP in Amsterdam πŸ—£οΈ.

Let's celebrate with a #geolocation-challenge! Where did I take this picture? Explain (in detail) how you found the spot! πŸ“πŸ‘‡ Image
Some great thinking and collaboration!

Geolocated!πŸ“βœ…

I'll summarise some breakthroughs in this challenge in the next tweets! 1/...
Read 9 tweets
May 4
2M people have seen this picture on #Telegram (without blur): "πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί Russian soldier was chained [...] tortured and [...] set on fire while still alive."

What do we see? Investigate! πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINTπŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸ“Έ
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
Social media users use the photo (bottom left) to make comparisons between Ukraine and the terrorist group Islamic State (IS or ISIS). 2/...
The photo of the scorched body started circulating on 9 April at 21:20 via Danil Bezsonov's official Telegram channel.

He is the head of the press service of the 'people's republic' of #Donetsk, a separatist, Russian-backed region in eastern Ukraine. 3/...
Read 33 tweets
May 3
1/ Short 🧡 on how to find original footage from the war in #Ukraine?

We start from a video on Twitter and look for the original footage.

⚠️ WARNING: this thread contains graphic images of bodies. πŸ”ž

#OSINTπŸ”Ž #HowToOSINT🧐 #VerificationπŸ“½οΈ
2/ Why is this important?

1⃣) The original video can be longer and reveal more #info.
2⃣) You can find the #context in which this was posted first.
3⃣) The original footage is of higher quality and thus shows more #details.
3/ πŸ‘†These things may help in further investigation.

So looking for original/older footage is ALWAYS worth the effort.

We start from this tweet with a very horizontal short video and mention of 'Kharkiv'🟩 Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 23
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Ukrainian soldier: "We had orders to shoot to kill at any moving person, whether it was peaceful or not."

1.2M have seen this testimony on #YouTube.

May we take this interview as true? Investigate! πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
The video of 2 minutes and 6 seconds shows 3 men in army uniforms.

πŸ—£οΈThe one on the right is talking. He is answering questions posed by an interviewer who does not appear on screen.

The English subtitles are a correct translation of what the man is saying in Russian. 2/...
The man says that he was ordered by their commanders to shoot at any moving person.

"At one point people were brought in, both women and men."

"They wanted to shoot them for what was done (allegedly) in #Bucha."

πŸ‘€ We only see the three men and a table: no context. 3/...
Read 39 tweets
Apr 16
According to Russia πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί "The unexpected reveal of "innocent patients" with assault rifles showcased how the Ukrainian military uses ambulances." 🚨

Their proof? A video of 21 sec.

What do we see? Investigate! πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
The investigation on this tweet from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia is a team effort together with @Techjournalisto, @ArchitMeta and @akhmxt.

(Follow them if you like these kind of #OSINT-investigations.)

The short video is viewed more than 110K times. 2/...
Armed men emerge from a van bearing the logo of the Red Cross.

The International Red Cross (ICRC) has a neutral status, also in the war in #Ukraine.

Do we see a recent war crime by the Ukrainian army in this clip? 3/...
Read 35 tweets
Apr 7
Dubious timelines on #Bucha keep circulating. The #OSINT community, @bellingcat & @nytimes have debunked a lot.

In this thread I’ll focus on a video from this man, the mayor of #Bucha.πŸ‘‡ 1/…

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
@bellingcat @nytimes According to these timelines πŸ‘‡ Russian troops left #Bucha on 30 March.

Source? Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Telegram.

Other Russian sources claim Russians were still around 1st of April.

➑️ Exact timing is unclear: no visual proof. 2/…
@bellingcat @nytimes Another source in this discussion is the mayor of Bucha Anatoly Fedoruk.

Timeline: β€œMar 31: Mayor of Bucha announces town 'liberated', makes no mention of atrocities.”

Is this correct? Investigate! 3/...
Read 27 tweets

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