Alexa Koenig

Fake news v fact: The battle for truth

Alexa Koenig, Eyal Weizman

Open-source investigators have transitioned from relying on witness testimony to deploying digital forensics and big data to expose state crimes in cases ranging from the Myanmar Rohingya crisis to the Skripal poisoning. These high-stakes investigations often challenge official state narratives by analyzing satellite imagery and social media data, as seen when Forensic Architecture disputed Israeli military claims in Gaza. However, the legal system currently lacks the infrastructure to fully validate or reject such digital evidence, creating a critical need for updated judicial standards that prevent both the blind acceptance of slick presentations and the dismissal of verifiable truth.