Investigative journalism organization Bellingcat has exposed secret Russian actors using open sources and information purchased from the dark market.
Corruption in the Russian administration can be used to undermine an authoritarian regime, says Bellingcat’s CEO and leading researcher Christo Grozev.
Investigative journalism group Bellingcat has used information sold by Russia’s corrupt security elite in its investigations for years.
Founder of the Bellingcat organization Eliot Higgins has described, for example, in his book We are Bellingcats, how the organization bought an airline passenger list on the black market, which helped track down a Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and the Russian men suspected of poisoning this daughter.
At the Innovation Forum held in Helsinki on Wednesday, Grozev shared his views on what has led to the situation and how journalists can take advantage of the control system created by Russia.
According to Grozev, the majority of Russians have been satisfied with well-functioning social media, search services and communication connections, which are controlled by the Russian security apparatus. People are practically satisfied with the fact that they do not have privacy protection in services that produce services that feel good.
According to Grozev, Russia understood in the early years of the 21st century that not all expression of opinion needs to be suppressed, as long as freedom of expression is kept in like-minded “bubbles” that the security services can monitor.
– Such a bubble might contain, for example, extremely conservative and religious circles, says Grozev.
– Or [toinen] the bubble may contain very liberal, almost anarchic circles.
Social media algorithms support consensus. According to Grozev, that led to people sharing too much information about themselves online in their own bubble. The system worked well for the Russian administration as long as the liberal bubble did not get to influence the citizens living inside other bubbles.
The administration allowed the corruption that is now being used against it
However, according to Grozev, the system had a casting defect, as it required expensive equipment and skilled personnel who wanted to benefit from their expertise. The state had to allow corruption into the system, where actors benefit from their positions. It caused leaks in the system.
According to Grozev, Russian journalists started taking advantage of these leaks long before Bellingcat came up with the same method. In practice, research groups can therefore buy information from the Russian administration, which can be used to reveal the illegalities of the Russian administration.
Grozev sees that the increased revelations and leakage between the bubbles began to destabilize the regime. In a normal society, such a shake-up could lead to the resignation of the decision-makers.
– In a different kind of society, it can lead to the start of a war, says Grozev.
However, war cannot be considered a very sustainable solution, so Grozev sees that investigative journalists and non-governmental organizations just have to continue exposing the illegalities of the Russian regime using available means.
Bellingcat offered an example of this last Monday when disclosing information (you move to another service) From the group that routes Russian cruise missiles. The information was partially based on information purchased from the dark market.
Read more:
Bellingcat Report: Over 30 Game Designers, Engineers and Programmers Prepared Attacks on Ukrainian Infrastructure from Russia
The Finnish Millennium Prize for the developer of solar cells – a new technology revolutionizes the production possibilities of solar electricity in the world