Open source intelligence is one way for citizens to combat censorship in times of war.
Saburō Ōkita, a Japanese politician, tells in his memoirs that his family realized that the war was going badly for their country when the "crushing defeats of the enemy" came closer and closer. how someone said, the first casualty of a war is the truth. Although, thanks to the intelligence of open sources (Open Source Intelligence or OSINT) it is increasingly difficult to manipulate the information.
From Falklands to Ukraine
I will make a clarification. This article is about applying open source principles to other domains and is published on a technology blog. I am going to apply a heavy-handed policy against comments that try to introduce topics that have nothing to do here.
My first experience with censorship was exactly 40 years ago when the weakened Military Junta that ruled Argentina decided to invade the Falkland Islands.. Although if you ask any Argentine over 60 today, the answer is that they were against it from the beginning, the truth is that the action had massive support.
With all television stations and most radios in government hands, international news agency wires banned, and print media ramped up to a nationalism that peddled copies, it was easy to maintain the fiction of certain victory until a few days before the surrender.
Eight years later Iraq invades Kuwait. The international news networks that broadcast live what was happening were already among us. Although the armed forces of the combatant countries controlled what was broadcast, it was possible to draw some conclusions.
The first war with the Internet was the invasion of Iraq in 2003. We all knew that there were no chemical weapons and that the main reason was that President Bush (h) needed to show his country that he was doing something to avenge the attack on the twin towers . Websites inside and outside the United States were in charge of spreading the opinions that the traditional media, for commercial reasons, ignored.
Between 2010 and 2012, with social networks already among us, the so-called Arab spring took place. It was a series of citizen protests asking for greater freedoms. In reality, the role of networks is often overestimated. Western journalists were informed by the tweets written by the minority of the English-speaking population with an Internet connection. But, anyway, we are talking about the first non-professional coverage.
And, we come to 2022 and the invasion of Ukraine
What is Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
The term open source intelligence refers to any information that can be legally collected from free and public sources about individuals, organizations or states. Most of the time that means information found on the Internet, but we can extend it to any medium, be it books or reports in a public library, articles in a newspaper or statements in a press release. The same can be said about the information that can be found in different types of media such as images, videos, webinars, public speeches and conferences.
In the case of the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict, various websites and social network users became the best source of information on what was happening without leaving home. Without sensationalism, shouting or cheap shots, they analyzed maps, satellite photos and compared statistics.
Perhaps the best alternative to get intelligence from open sources is bellingcat, a collective of citizen journalists from around the world that not only publishes news, but also generates open source solutions cAs a tool to detect interference from military radars or a guide to how to verify content on social networks. In addition, they have an open email address for open source intelligence researchers to propose which tools to develop.
And, if you want to become one, you will also find information on how to do it on the site.
At some point in this century, 1984 ceased to be a political satire and became an instruction manual. And unfortunately Western democracies are no exception. For this reason, this type of initiative is important to prevent those who have power from evading their responsibilities.