Bellingcat, an international collective of researchers and open-source investigators advancing justice and transparency, has recently been in the spotlight, receiving two major awards acknowledging its excellent work.
CrimSL PhD, Giancarlo Fiorella was appointed Bellingcat’s Director of Research and Training in September 2023 from a position as Senior Investigator and Trainer. He joined Bellingcat in 2018 initially as a volunteer, so he has been involved with the organization for some time. Giancarlo is also Assistant Professor at Utrecht University.
"2024 marks the 10-year anniversary since Bellingcat's launch, and these two awards are a testament to the groundbreaking and important work that my colleagues have been doing in this field. I'm extremely privileged and proud to be able to be a part of the Bellingcat team, and I'm looking forward to helping the organization continue to set a path as a leader in digital research in the years to come," says Giancarlo.
Bellingcat has been chosen to receive a Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech in April 2024. Four Freedoms Award medals are awarded to individuals and organizations committed to promoting the four freedoms proclaimed by President Roosevelt in 1941 by the Roosevelt Foundation.
Freedom of Speech - Bellingcat
Research collective Bellingcat makes an effort to separate fact from fiction. In times when fake news creates a lot of uncertainty, factual and accurate information is crucial for a well-informed society. Bellingcat plays an important role in this: the foundation investigates international conflicts and has developed a distinctive approach to get closer, faster and in a more accurate way to the truth. Bellingcat does this with the support of a large network and countless volunteers, specialised in fact-checking and Open Source investigation. Bellingcat’s work is pioneering, meaningful and demonstrates a great sense of responsibility.
— Citation, Roosevelt Four Freedoms website
In January of this year, Bellingcat received the 2024 Olof Palme Prize. The prize is awarded annually for "outstanding achievement in the spirit of Olof Palme" by the Olof Palme Memorial Fund for International Understanding and Common Security.
The 2024 Olof Palme Prize goes to the independent investigative journalism group Bellingcat. In an era when the transmission of news and facts threatens to be eroded by an ever-increasing flood of disinformation from various malign actors, including nation states, Bellingcat provides a necessary and welcome scrutiny of these misinformation flows based on what is available from open source materials. In addition, Bellingcat conducts veritable detective work to document the perpetrators of various crimes, be it murder, attempted murder, trafficking, or terrorist acts.
Their tireless work contributes to, in line with the political legacy of Olof Palme, establishing a more solid ground for nation states as well as international organisations to act on the basis of international as well as national law. Moreover, the vast documentation that Bellingcat has mobilised provides an evidentiary foundation for writing the history of a series of crimes against humanity.
— Citation, Olof Palme Prize website