Power and Humility in Open Source Investigations

A digital revolution is underway in which individuals on their computers, some working independently or in ad hoc collectives, and others as part of established organizations, are gathering and verifying information from online spaces that they believe contain evidence of human rights violations or international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. Known commonly as digital investigators, citizen sleuths, or open source intelligence (OSI) researchers, this community of practice has expanded across major newspaper agencies (such as the New York Times, the BBC and the Washington Post), human rights organizations (such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others), and national and international court systems (including United Nations Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions, and the International Criminal Court). In this article, we draw from our legal and sociological training to explore the role of power and humility in this quickly-emerging field of practice. Fundamentally, power and humility intersect with conceptions of ethics and responsibility but have too often been an afterthought to the intrigue of methodological possibilities and investigative outcomes. From who has access to digital open source investigative training to how investigations are designed to who are considered experts, this article posits that a failure to interrogate power asymmetries and an unwillingness to approach such research with appropriate humility can undermine the integrity and legitimacy of these investigations.