Eliot Higgins

Eliot Higgins is the founder of Bellingcat and pioneer of online open source investigation, a new investigative methodology that has significantly impacted a range of fields and specialisations, from journalism to justice and accountability. Starting as a blogger and entirely self-taught, Higgins’ work has now opened up new ways to investigate a wide range of topics, with Higgins’ own investigative work covering topics such at the downing of Malaysian Airlines 17 over Ukraine in July 17, chemical weapon use in Syria and the application of these new investigation techniques to the work of organisations like the International Criminal Court, where Higgins’ is part of the Technology Advisory Board. In 2021 Eliot Higgins released "We Are Bellingcat", telling the story of the investigations that made his name and the name of Bellingcat, including the poisonings of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury and Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny by Russian intelligence services. We Are Bellingcat describes how Bellingcat went from a blog run by one person to multi award-winning investigative NGO whose work is cited across the world and has influenced the use of online open source investigation by organisations as diverse and the New York Times, BBC, International Criminal Court and human rights NGOs. He also examines the impact of the internet and social media on our understanding of the world, the rise of disinformation and propaganda and the role of online communities in creating and propagating misinformation, and the future of online open source investigation. Most recently Higgins’ has been focused on the creation of Bellingcat Productions, which will take Bellingcat’s investigative work and bring it to new audiences by creating high quality television, film and podcast documentaries based on Bellingcat’s investigations, as well as dramatisations of Bellingcat’s investigations.

Populära ämnen: The fight against disinformation and conspiracy theories | Open source investigations – An overview | We Are Bellingcat