2024 is a super election year, more than two billion people in over 60 countries have the right to vote and Higgins has already discovered fake video posts on, among others, X with the aim of damaging the candidates in the fall elections in the United States.
That Russian interests influenced the last presidential election is clear, but he believes that it is domestic interests that spread most of the false information online.
– For political actors and the media, it was much easier to point the finger at Russia than to investigate what was happening within our own communities, says Higgins.
Digital tools reveal war crimes
Ever since the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH-14 in 2014 that claimed 298 lives, Bellingcat has tirelessly delved further into war crimes, murders and acts of terrorism.
Using digital tools, the group analyzes video images, audio files and online statements to try to determine who or who committed the crime. Higgins started with visual inspection when the Syrian war broke out, Bellingcat now has 40 employees and a large number of volunteers who cooperate with complex investigations.
Young people important to stop disinformation
A side project is education. More than 1,000 journalists and human rights workers have been trained in online detective work.
In a time where more and more people, especially younger people, get their news from social media, Higgins wants to see a real investment in education in schools.
– There are great opportunities there if we can teach them to seek facts from credible sources and how to deal with disinformation, if we don’t it will benefit those who spread false information and it will be even worse in the future, says Higgins.