Digital Investigations Lab (Part 1)

About this episode

The episode explores the role of open source investigations in documenting conflict-related harms and the challenges posed by disinformation and AI-generated content.

Open Source Investigations, AI, and Accountability in Conflict What happens when war crimes are filmed in real time — but truth itself becomes contested? In this episode of LawPod, host Eva Richards is joined by Professor Luke Moffett and PhD researcher Lydia Millar , manager of QUB Law’s Digital Investigation Lab, for a deep dive into the fast‑evolving world of open source investigations and their growing importance for law, justice, and accountability. Together, they unpack how publicly available information; from social media videos and satellite imagery to online records, is transforming how lawyers, academics, journalists, and civil society document conflict‑related harms. But they also confront the darker side of this digital revolution: disinformation, AI‑generated fakes, evidentiary scepticism in courtrooms, and widening global inequalities in who gets to investigate who's suffering. This conversation moves from theory to practice, revealing how Queen’s Digital Investigation Lab has supported real‑world litigation and accountability efforts related to Gaza, Syria, Ukraine, and Sudan, and asks what comes next for this powerful and precarious field.

People in this episode

Host: Luke Moffett

Guests: Lydia Millar, Professor Luke Moffett

Topics covered

• Open Source Investigations
• AI
• Accountability
• War Crimes
• Disinformation
• Digital Revolution

Keywords

• Digital Investigation Lab
• Gaza
• Syria
• Ukraine
• Sudan

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: LawPod

Places: Gaza, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan

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