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๐Ÿ“ฐ Visual Investigative Journalist @Knack ๐Ÿ˜ #OSINT | ๐ŸŽฅ #HowToOSINT๐Ÿง on YouTube | Have you seen a strange video or photo? โžก๏ธ Send me a DM for Signal
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May 4, 2023 โ€ข 11 tweets โ€ข 7 min read
You come across a video in a language you don't understand. Annoying. ๐Ÿ˜ 

Wouldn't it be great if you could watch that video with English subtitles? ๐Ÿ˜

You can! With a little help from AI!
#OSINT #tutorial ๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

(got the idea from @matt0177 ๐Ÿ™) Image @matt0177 First thing you have to do is install Whisper (this is software from #OpenAI, same guys from #ChatGPT).

It's FREE, but not so easy to install. I used this tutorial:

All info on Whisper here: github.com/openai/whisper 2/...
Jan 30, 2023 โ€ข 18 tweets โ€ข 14 min read
3.3M views for this video by @EuromaidanPress:

"American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ infantry fighting vehicles M2 Bradley are spotted in Poland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ [...] toward the Ukrainian border ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ. "

TRUE โœ… or FALSE โŒ? Investigate! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง @EuromaidanPress The exact location of the video is difficult to find due to the limited visual elements in the background. ๐Ÿ˜ข

But it's admittedly plausible that the video was shot in Poland. How do we know this? ๐Ÿ‘‡2/...
Nov 24, 2022 โ€ข 22 tweets โ€ข 14 min read
"Ukrainians ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ in the World Cup of Qatar ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ arrested for spreading Nazi symbols."

This "report from Al Jazeera" gets 391K views on Telegram. ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

Fake or real? Let's investigate!๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง
#WorldcupQatar2022 โšฝ๏ธ Image "Three drunken Ukrainian supporters were arrested in Qatar. The reason? They made a Nazi salute and vandalised posters at the Al Bayt stadium by drawing a Hitler moustache on the World Cup mascot La'eeb. When arrested, they showed no resistance."

Source: @AlJazeera Really? ๐Ÿค”2/ Image
Oct 18, 2022 โ€ข 23 tweets โ€ข 16 min read
"Happy Birthday for Vladimir Putin from Belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช" from men in army uniform with guns. ๐Ÿค”

Let's investigate this deleted TikTok-video. ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง This is the video. ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ๐Ÿ‘€ 2/...

Sep 21, 2022 โ€ข 19 tweets โ€ข 9 min read
11.8M views for a TikTok of "a mosquito ๐ŸฆŸ with a number on its back". ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

Is Bill Gates involved? (Spoiler: no.) Investigate! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง

#BillGates #TikTok #FactCheck #Weird The Russian caption (albeit with typo) on this viral video reads: 'Guys who know where the numbers on mosquitoes come from (?)'.

Good question! Let's start with some basic Google... 2/...
tiktok.com/@dyunh519yip1/โ€ฆ
Sep 9, 2022 โ€ข 13 tweets โ€ข 7 min read
On Facebook and Twitter hundreds of thousands saw a video of "Queen Elizabeth feeding vulnerable kids...๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ"

Is this #QueenElizabeth "feeding humans as if they are animals"?

Let's find out! ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿงต1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง We take a screenshot of the video and load it into the Russian search engine Yandex. #ReverseImageSearch

This brings us to a site with film recommendations. ๐ŸŸฅ2/...
Sep 9, 2022 โ€ข 5 tweets โ€ข 8 min read
๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธKomende maanden geef ik een aantal lezingen en workshops over #OSINT. Zin in!๐Ÿ‘‡Zie ik je daar? ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ

17 sep Brussel @Aanstokerij
19 sep Kortenberg @Similesvzw
30 sep Antwerpen @BENEDMO_hub

11 okt Bussum

18 nov Breda
19 nov Leiden @VVOJ
29 nov Hasselt @HogeschoolPXL @Aanstokerij @Similesvzw @BENEDMO_hub @VVOJ @HogeschoolPXL Voor @Similesvzw bespreek ik de film Les Intranquilles. Een aangrijpende prent over bipolariteit. Warm aan bevolen.

activiteiten.similes.be/activiteiten/aโ€ฆ
Sep 9, 2022 โ€ข 14 tweets โ€ข 8 min read
77K watched a clip of "tens of thousands of cattle suddenly dying after being given a vaccine" in #India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ.

๐Ÿ˜ฒ"Worldwide, they are destroying cattle." ๐Ÿ„๐Ÿค”

What do we see? Investigate! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง The tweet mentions the Indian region Gujarat, so we google with the search terms 'Gujarat dying cows'.

This leads us to an article by The Shillong Times, a local newspaper in north-east India, entitled 'More than 1200 cattle die of Lumpy Skin Disease in Gujarat'. 2/...
Jul 21, 2022 โ€ข 20 tweets โ€ข 23 min read
๐Ÿ”๏ธProbably you have seen this breathtaking video of an avalanche. ๐Ÿ˜ฒ Everyone survived.

Where was it shot? ๐Ÿ“

Letโ€™s do some #GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/โ€ฆ

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง

There are NO street signs, logos, number plates, trees or any other visual indications ๐Ÿซค... except ๐Ÿ”๏ธ๐Ÿ”๏ธ.

This part of #GEOINT is new to me. ๐Ÿคซ

I used a mountain range only once for a fact check of migrants arriving in the Balearic Islands ๐Ÿ‘‡: knack.be/factcheck/factโ€ฆ 2/โ€ฆ
Jul 18, 2022 โ€ข 13 tweets โ€ข 9 min read
216K views for a video of "Vatican Burning". ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ”ฅ

Fact or fiction? Investigate! ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿงต 1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง We can start with Reverse Image Search, but a very simple Google search for news about "Rome" and a "fire" might be a kick start too. 2/...
Jul 12, 2022 โ€ข 29 tweets โ€ข 16 min read
Footage of violence spreads like wildfire.๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ž

Often itโ€™s used to blame a group of people: Ukrainian refugees in this case.

How to investigate such videos? I have 4โƒฃ easy steps for you. ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง We see a brawl in broad daylight on a public road. There are heavy blows, and when two cars with perpetrators drive off, someone is left lying on the ground, apparently unconscious.

It would be 'Ukrainians' in 'Austria'. 2/...
Jul 7, 2022 โ€ข 36 tweets โ€ข 26 min read
250K views for a terrifying video from Nukus, #Karakalpakstan.

A street "covered in the blood of protesters" or "red paint"?

Investigation by @Lotte_Lambrecht and me. ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐ŸŽฅ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง Image @Lotte_Lambrecht Some context first.

Karakalpakstan is a semi-autonomous region in Uzbekistan, Central Asia.

Authorities in Uzbekistan have said that 18 people were killed during last weekโ€™s unrest after plans to strip Karakalpakstan of its autonomy. 2/...

eurasianet.org/uzbekistan-at-โ€ฆ
Jul 1, 2022 โ€ข 18 tweets โ€ข 9 min read
This photo collage got 22K likes on #Instagram: it shows a swimming pool ๐ŸŠ in #Kharkiv ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ before and after Russian shelling ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ.

"Is this supposed to be the same place before and after?" ๐Ÿค”

Let's find oud! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง We upload the image in Yandex. That search engine suggests that we are indeed seeing a swimming pool in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv ๐ŸŸฅ.

Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine, close to the Russian border and has been under attack since the beginning of the war. 2/...
Jun 29, 2022 โ€ข 8 tweets โ€ข 13 min read
1/ Zin in een #podcast? ๐Ÿ”Š

In dit ๐Ÿงตeen overzicht van de journalistieke audio die ik maak. ๐Ÿ‘‡ Veel luisterplezier! ๐ŸŽง Image 2/ Met @lorevonck van @WerkgroepVerder ging ik op stap om te luisteren hoe nabestaanden omgaan met #zelfdoding. Dankzij @destandaard.

[Op zoek naar hulp? zelfmoord1813.be]

๐Ÿ”Škerekewere-ds.github.io/assets/ds_19.0โ€ฆ Image
Jun 20, 2022 โ€ข 24 tweets โ€ข 16 min read
11.8 M people have seen this video on #TikTok. ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

A quiet scene at a beach ๐Ÿ–๏ธ with a huge explosion in the background. ๐Ÿ”ฅ

What do we see? Investigate! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง ๐Ÿ”ŠThe woman filming curses while a man seems to say "he almost choked".

The caption of the video is ะดะพะฑั€ะพ ะฟะพะถะฐะปะพะฒะฐั‚ัŒ ะฒ ะ‘ะตั€ะดัะฝัะบ, meaning "Welcome to Berdyansk".

Berdyansk is a port city in Ukraine. ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

You can watch the video here: tiktok.com/@thdsml/video/โ€ฆ

2/...
Jun 16, 2022 โ€ข 20 tweets โ€ข 27 min read
We all have seen Ukrainian tractors ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ dragging Russian tanks ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ.

Where do they go? ๐Ÿค”

We traced the โ€œV5โ€ in this #TikTok. It reveals France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท breaking the arms embargo against Russia.

Investigate! ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/โ€ฆ

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง Image The TikTok video with this BMD-4, a landing combat vehicle, was shot west of Kyiv.

@sammy7000 from @GeoConfirmed found the location with Google Streetview. ๐Ÿ“โœ…

How? ๐Ÿ“บ๐Ÿ‘‡2/โ€ฆ
Jun 16, 2022 โ€ข 5 tweets โ€ข 6 min read
1/ I'm glad this important ๐Ÿงต on the danger of #OSINT is well shared. ๐Ÿ” ๐Ÿ’ช

Before I start a second thread on our investigation I have to thank a few people for production! ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿ‘‡ 2/ @amra_dorjbayar and his team at @vrtnws made our investigation (which took over 1,5 months with an international team) into a 5 min. video.

Impressive work. ๐Ÿ“บ
vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022โ€ฆ
Jun 15, 2022 โ€ข 26 tweets โ€ข 39 min read
A Russian missile ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ killed at least three Ukrainian citizens ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ on April 16 in Kyiv.

This was NO ordinary attack: it was initiated by volunteers using #OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž.

Investigation on โ˜ ๏ธ KILLER COORDINATES ๐Ÿ“

๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡ 1/โ€ฆ

#Verification ๐Ÿ“ธ๐ŸŽฅ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง This missile strike in the east of Kyiv almost completely destroyed a warehouse.

Satellite imagery from @planet shows how the surrounding buildings were not damaged, indicating a precision bombing. 2/โ€ฆ
Jun 14, 2022 โ€ข 4 tweets โ€ข 5 min read
Tomorrow we'll publish a new #OSINT investigation on the war in Ukraine. ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Stay tuned!

We = @Techjournalisto, @ArchitMeta, @amra_dorjbayar, @AlbertoOlivie13, @akhmxt and volunteers from @GeoConfirmed. ๐Ÿ™ [1/3] @Techjournalisto @ArchitMeta @amra_dorjbayar @AlbertoOlivie13 @akhmxt @GeoConfirmed (Re)read our first case here:
[2/3]
May 17, 2022 โ€ข 18 tweets โ€ข 14 min read
"๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Hamburg shootout between two groups of migrants. Several people received gunshot wounds [...]. There are several deaths."

In a short blurry video we hear gunshots. What do we see? Investigate! ๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT๐Ÿ”Ž
#Verification ๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ
#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ
#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง The tweet above only has little over 1K views, BUT the same video with the same text was uploaded multiple times on Twitter (left), Reddit, Telegram, Facebook (centre) and YouTube (right).

Over 100,000 people saw the images pass by in that context. 2/...
May 15, 2022 โ€ข 10 tweets โ€ข 11 min read
WHERE was a photo taken or a video recorded? ๐Ÿค” This quest is called #GeoLocation.

Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's very hard.๐Ÿคจ But it's always exciting to find the exact spot. ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿฅณ

How can you start doing this yourself? ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡1/...

#OSINT ๐Ÿ”Ž#GeoLocation ๐ŸŒ#HowToOSINT ๐Ÿง 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/...