Bellingcat stands out as one of the most innovative practitioners of open-source intelligence and online journalism in the world. They have taken on the challenge of fighting disinformation, improving democratic discourse, and inspiring change that facilitates progress towards the UN Sustainable Goals 2030.

​

Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists that utilises open-source and social media investigation to uncover the truth about crimes against humanity and conflicts worldwide. Their efforts have included revealing the true stories of the missiles that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine and the chemical weapons used by the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, identifying neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, exposing Kremlin hit teams, and finding ISIS supporters in Europe.

​

As journalists, Bellingcat and its founder Eliot Higgins have a special role in creating truth not only for themselves but for all of society. Their remarkable organisational transparency in the fight against disinformation inspires the next generation of journalists to improve democratic discourse.

​

With contributors in over 20 countries worldwide, Bellingcat operates at the intersection of advanced technology, journalism, education and transparency. Their creative methods, which combine technology with forensic research, investigations, and accountability, expose some of the gravest crimes of our times. This has given rise to a new generation of journalism that advances narratives of conflict, crime, and human rights abuses while fighting disinformation.

​

For their outstanding contributions in the fight against disinformation, using innovative methods to uncover critical information about urgent global issues and paving the way for a new generation of investigative journalism, the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award 2023 is awarded to Bellingcat and Eliot Higgins.