Violent riots by groups associated with far-right networks have erupted in the UK. Social media videos of groups setting fire to hotels, police vans and breaking into shops are everywhere. It’s important to archive this material so it doesn’t disappear. Here's how to do that… 🧵
The Bellingcat Auto Archiver tool is free-to-access and automatically archives any link added to a spreadsheet. It will save the content for you in a repository and also extract vital details like the time it was posted and what platform it was posted on. https://github.com/bellingcat/auto-archiver
Online posts can be taken down by platforms or deleted by those posting them. That's why Bellingcat has created a tool, the Auto Archiver, to help quickly and easily archive online content.
First you need to set up a Google Service Account, this is an account type used by a non-human entity. When setting up an Auto Archiver sheet you need to give the Google Service Account address editor permissions to the file. Find out how to get one here: https://docs.gspread.org/en/latest/oauth2.html#for-bots-using-service-account
You also need to install the latest version of Python on your computer if you don’t have the programming codebase already. You can find the download here: https://www.python.org/downloads/
Open source research often relies on social media posts that contain videos and images. However, these posts can be taken down by platforms or deleted by tho...
To start archiving, use the command line (on a Mac it's called “terminal” and in Windows, “Powershell”.) and type in the following command: python auto_archive.py --config your-config-file.yaml
Many of the rioters are live streaming their actions on TikTok or YouTube. To ensure livestreams are captured by the Auto Archiver you need to add "livestreams: true" in the youtubedl_archiver section of orchestration.yaml.
If your sheet is archiving properly you will see the data appear in the other columns beside the link column and it will state that the archive has been a success. It’s important not to try to edit the names or order of the columns as this could disrupt the archival process.
If you’re having trouble, join our Discord Community and ask for help in the ‘Cries For Help’ channel or the ’tool support’ channel https://discord.gg/bellingcat
Hopefully this thread is useful for researchers and journalists looking to quickly save the content being posted online from the UK Riots. Creating these tools is only possible with the kind support from our donors. You can donate to Bellingcat here: https://www.bellingcat.com/donate/
Your donation to Bellingcat is a direct contribution to our research. With your support, we will continue to publish groundbreaking investigations and uncover wrongdoing all around the world.
This Auto Archiver tool was created by Bellingcat's Investigative Tech Team but can be used by any researcher/journalist for any archival purposes. To be clear, the pages are archived to your own drives and cannot be seen or accessed by Bellingcat.
it's also important, I feel, to show and archive the responses and actions of the good people who have suffered at the hands of these knuckle-draggers and those who incite them.
I’d be more concise: far right violence has exploded across the UK as terrorist mobs sweep through communities destroying, vandalizing, looting property and attacking people.
The UK is under attack from violent rightwing extremism.
There's plenty of unpatched cctv cameras accessible on Shodan for areas of UK riots. Suggestion: exploit this, record and save the live feed footage yourselves and then archive it as evidence. This ensures cctv evidence won't go "missing" later on.
BSUIR university, former students. Belarus did it. They are crazy. Crazy Belorussians. They are lying about my startups. They are stealing my startups. They don't want anybody to know about it.
russia is succeeding at destroying the west without firing a shot, We are falling for it. We are losing a war that is destroying all of our democratic institutions and turning our people against each other.
If American & European leaders actually cared about us, they would null route all russian IP space physically cut network and telco connections to them, kick out all of diplomats, close all shared borders and implement travel bans.
Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •GitHub - bellingcat/auto-archiver: Automatically archive links to videos, images, and social media content from Google Sheets (and more).
GitHubBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Preserve Vital Online Content With Bellingcat's Auto Archiver - bellingcat
Miguel Ramalho (bellingcat)Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Authentication — gspread 5.7.2 documentation
docs.gspread.orgBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Preserve Vital Online Content With Bellingcat's Auto Archiver Tool
YouTubeBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •python auto_archive.py --config your-config-file.yaml
Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Public Auto Archiver template - Google Drive
docs.google.comBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Using Livestreams to Monitor Crises in Gaza and Beyond - bellingcat
Aram Shabanian (bellingcat)Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Bellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Join the Bellingcat Discord Server!
DiscordBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Donate - bellingcat
bellingcatBellingcat
in reply to Bellingcat • • •jon ⚝
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Galactic Stone 🇺🇦
in reply to Bellingcat • • •AutisticMumTo3 She/her 🌈
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Paul H 🏴🇪🇺
in reply to Bellingcat • • •it's also important, I feel, to show and archive the responses and actions of the good people who have suffered at the hands of these knuckle-draggers and those who incite them.
Here's a strong example. I stand with Tony Hill!
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/hero-builder-helps-rebuild-wall-of-southport-mosque-380150/
Hero builder helps rebuild wall of Southport mosque
Luke Alsford (The London Economic)Rastal
in reply to Bellingcat • • •GhostOnTheHalfShell
in reply to Bellingcat • • •I’d be more concise: far right violence has exploded across the UK as terrorist mobs sweep through communities destroying, vandalizing, looting property and attacking people.
The UK is under attack from violent rightwing extremism.
Rastal
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Anton
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Michael Halligan 🇺🇦🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
in reply to Bellingcat • • •russia is succeeding at destroying the west without firing a shot, We are falling for it. We are losing a war that is destroying all of our democratic institutions and turning our people against each other.
If American & European leaders actually cared about us, they would null route all russian IP space physically cut network and telco connections to them, kick out all of diplomats, close all shared borders and implement travel bans.
putin is a cancer that is killing us.
Urzl
in reply to Bellingcat • • •This is what fascists do when they lose.
The US needs to remember it.
Crash Course
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Useful, but not for the laymen among us.
Still I hope it gets used well.
Petra van Cronenburg
in reply to Bellingcat • • •#investigativeJournalism
Oliver Hunt
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Larry Smith For Harris
in reply to Bellingcat • • •Puts me in mind of the U.S. civil rights riots of the 60s. It was a bad time. We got through it. Hopefully, we learned from it.
The UK will get through it too. They've also seen some tough times, tougher than this.