Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) network to strengthen digital content verification

What is OSINT?

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is the systematic collection and analysis of openly accessible digital sources - such as images, video, audio, profiles, metadata, spatial data and public records - to determine origin, authenticity and context. The methods are increasingly used in editorial work for digital verification and investigative journalism, including incident mapping, actors and dissemination of digital content.

OSINT techniques are already an integral part of the work at Chek Det, including, for example, the uncovering of Denmark's largest network of phone scammers, the unveiling of the man behind the world's largest website for deep fake pornography, the mapping of destruction in the Gaza Strip, as well as ongoing verification and fact-checking of images and videos.

See examples of the importance of OSINT here!

About the network

In the common OSINT network, media journalists can retrieve and share methods, best practices and technical digital verification tools, with the help of open, publicly available sources, to determine, for example, where and when digital content originates from, and whether it is genuine or manipulated. AI-generated content in particular is increasingly filling the public debate, and the development places greater demands on both specialised tools and practical experience in the daily work of editorial staff. At the same time, the network will provide a framework for ongoing workshops and presentations that build capacity and disseminate OSINT competences in the industry.

The members of the network are journalists on Danish media who work with digital verification on a daily basis and who can draw on each other's OSINT expertise in technically complex verification tasks. The network, on the other hand, is not intended to produce joint fact-checking or other joint editorial content.

CheckIts editorial team has been working systematically with OSINT techniques for digital verification for a long time, but we have a clear need to exchange methods, experience and professional sparring with colleagues outside our four walls, and hopefully thus be stronger in an election year. Therefore, we are very pleased that the network has risen to prominence and to take on the role of coordinator of the cooperation. 

CheckIt Editor-in-Chief Thomas Hedin. The network is facilitated by Chek Det, which is responsible for practical coordination and operation.

“The challenges we face as media in relation to synthetic and manipulated content are greater than anything any of us can solve alone. In DR’s new strategy, ‘Different Together’, we are precisely concerned with strengthening cooperation in the industry to combat disinformation in order to strengthen democratic dialogue. That is why we are particularly pleased and proud to be able to launch this collaboration with such strong partners right now, and we hope that more will join in the near future," says Marie Buss, Chief Editor of DR News. DR, TV 2 and CheckIt covers the majority of the costs to ensure a broad industry boost. Therefore, other Danish media that see a professional need and interest can also join the network.

Pierre Collignon, editor-in-chief of Berlingske, adds that: “Berlingske would not engage in cross-media cooperation if it was a matter of fact-checking. Fact-checking involves a qualitative assessment, which can be quite open to discussion. But verification is a completely different discipline, trying to determine times, places, and whether any content is real or an AI manipulation at all. Here, the media can learn from each other without centralizing a particular worldview," he says.