Centre for Information Resilience

17/12/2024

**CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS**

We are excited to open the second edition of the CIR Open Source Film Awards! to be held at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, 9-13 April 2025.

This year the prize is supported by satellite-provider Planet, offering a one-year starter subscription access to Planet satellite imagery to all winners!

The submissions will close on 22 Jan 2025.

17/12/2024

CIR was born out of a determination to expose those spreading harm – online and offline – around the world, particularly in areas of violent conflict, such as Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar.

We strongly believe in collaboration, whether with governments, civil society, the media or the open source community.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch:

At CIR, we strongly believe in collaboration, whether with governments, civil society, the media or the open source community.

17/07/2024

What's happening in Myanmar?
Last week, we looked into the events in Lashio, the largest town in Shan state, where renewed fighting has been reported since 3 July.

Conflict between the State Administration Council (SAC) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and their allied forces continues resulting in infrastructure damage as well as reports of deaths.

CIR’s Myanmar Witness geolocated the imagery of the destruction from the alleged attacks.

As always, sources and more details on request.

10/07/2024

What's happening in Myanmar?

A series of events have been reported in Lashio, the largest town in Shan State, located in the Northern part of Myanmar.

Let’s have a closer look ⬇️

Since 3 July, reports of renewed fighting in and around Lashio town surged on social media.

The town was believed to be the headquarters of the ruling State Administration Council (SAC)’s military command and was reportedly struck by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and allied forces.

In the meantime, the SAC’s Vice Senior General Soe Win arrived for an official visit to China, to attend a "Green Development Forum".

As the clashes resulted in at least 15 reported deaths, several injuries and building damage, the allied forces allegedly captured the Myanmar Military base near Lashio, triggering retaliatory attacks.

Thousands of people have appeared to be stranded on the road while fleeing from the violence.

CIR’s Myanmar Witness geolocated the damage from alleged attacks and footage showing people fleeing the area.

As always, sources and more details on request.

For more on , follow Myanmar Witness
or email: [email protected]

01/07/2024

An attack on a music venue in Moscow in March left at least 145 people dead.

Who is to blame?

In our latest Spotlight article, we take a deep dive into the identities of the Crocus City Hall perpetrators as well as the reactions of Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) and their supporters online.

Read more: info-res.org/post/islamic-state-crocus-city-hall-attack-analysing-the-background-and-online-responses

This investigation was carried out by CIR’s Afghan Witness team.

26/06/2024

What's happening in Myanmar?
Violence continues to impact civilians across Myanmar on a daily basis.

This week, investigators were able to geolocate footage from these incidents below following reports of airstrikes and drone attacks ⬇️

Drone attack on Nam War village
Geolocated to: 25.376759, 97.557724

Airstrike on Taung Ni
Geolocated to: 22.785282, 96.537017

Airstrike on Shwe Hlay
Geolocated to: 18.614084, 94.299995

Drone attack on Pein Pyit (Upper)
Geolocated to: 22.965306, 96.568361

Airstrike on Shwe Kyaung Pyin
Geolocated to: 18.477427, 94.353805

In this weekly brief, we use the letter "G" and a check mark symbol to indicate where we have successfully identified the coordinates in time of publishing.

Sources and more details on request. For more on , visit myanmarwitness.org or email [email protected].

26/06/2024

The Taliban's Cash Cow

Afghanistan’s mineral deposits – estimated to be worth nearly 1 trillion USD – have long attracted interest from the outside world.
New report by CIR's Afghan Witness project 👇

In September 2023, the Taliban announced that they had signed more than $6.5 billion in new mining deals. CIR’s Afghan Witness project delves into the sector dubbed the Taliban’s “cash cow”. Satellite imagery of “Afghan Morvarid quarry”, via Google EarthA new set of companies dominates A...

19/06/2024

🔗As the war in Sudan intensifies, Darfur is on the brink of catastrophe.
Hospitals have closed, a famine looms, and entire neighbourhoods have been burned down.

A new visual investigation from The New York Times, with analysis from CIR’s project, traces the Rapid Support Forces' violent siege of El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital.

It shows a multitude of threats facing tens of thousands of civilians escaping the conflict, and the unfolding of a humanitarian disaster.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/19/world/africa/sudan-darfur-siege.html?unlocked_article_code=1.000.eTyC.G1tyOp3Txy2T&smid=url-share

19/06/2024

What's happening in Myanmar?

More than three years since the 2021 coup that overturned the elected government in Myanmar, the State Administration Council (SAC) is making life in Myanmar unbearable.

Civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence resulting from clashes between the military, anti-coup resistance fighters and ethnic rebel groups.

This week, we are sharing incidents involving reports of airstrikes and the use of fire that have impacted civilian infrastructure.

Our team at Myanmar Witness work endlessly to geolocate and chronolocate events, but time is often not on the side of OSINT investigators. That's why, in this weekly brief, we use the letter "G" and a check mark symbol to indicate where we have successfully identified the coordinates in time of publishing this brief. You can find them below for easy access 👇

Airstrike in Tanintharyi
Geolocated to: 12.259434, 99.038139

Airstrike in Kyunhla
Geolocated to: 23.619024, 95.334620

Airstrike in Myebon
Geolocated to: 19.982397, 93.687358

Fire in Kale
Geolocated to: 23.306243, 94.021305

Sources on request.

For more on , visit myanmarwitness.org or email: [email protected]

30/05/2024

Could you be swayed to change your vote?

As the elections get underway, social media users in South Africa are being targeted with misleading narratives aiming to justify Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Here’s a few themes of the messaging that were found in CIR’s joint analysis with Institute for Strategic Dialogue - ISD:

🔴 portraying Ukraine as a neo-N**i state
🔴 accusing the Ukrainian military of using N**i tactics
🔴spreading the idea that the Ukrainian military willingly recruits N**is

Is it really that easy to influence public opinion?
Read more: https://www.info-res.org/post/pro-kremlin-content-targets-south-african-social-media-users-pushing-narratives-around-ukrainian-ne