METHODOLOGY

This case study discusses the ethical challenges mentioned above, and sets out the methodology used to build a process for a story of this type, defined by WITNESS for the purposes of this report as a Model 1 investigation – the investigation of a single incident.

Investigating the capture of the Sweida hostages required a months-long process of:

• Identifying local, trusted sources
• Building search terms
• Analysing comments on key videos
• Working to verify videos where there is limited geographic information.