"Student Researchers Vs The Misinformation Machine" with Utrecht University

This week, we were discussing how open source research can help build vital factchecking skills across disciplines. We spoke to Prof. dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh, a professor and one of the leaders of the Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab at Utrecht University. Alongside her, we were joined by Felix Lommerse, the student assistant at the lab and a former student of the course. In the talk they described the purpose of the project, how major newsrooms have got involved and why other universities may want to take note.

The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday October 9th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.

Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Links discussed:

The lab: https://www.uu.nl/en/research/institutions-for-open-societies/contesting-governance/projects/open-source-global-justice-investigations-lab

Berkeley: https://humanrights.berkeley.edu/

Dr Alexa Koenig Stage Talk: https://rss.com/podcasts/bellingcatstagetalk/1908244/

FT article in partnership with lab: https://ig.ft.com/haiti-gangs

Their work was also mentioned by GIJN: https://gijn.org/stories/african-journalism-database-local-digital-verification/

Their timeline of the Palestinian protests at Utrecht University: https://www.uu.nl/sites/default/files/UU%20May%207%20-%209%20Events%20Report_0.pdf

Bellingcat challenge site: https://challenge.bellingcat.com/

Giancarlo's article on protecting your mental hygiene as a researcher: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/11/23/how-to-maintain-mental-hygiene-as-an-open-source-researcher/

The Dart Center referenced has been closed over the summer. You can now access those resources here: https://gcjt.org/