Forensic conflict studies: Making sense of war in the social media age

Hauter, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0625-8531 (2023) Forensic conflict studies: Making sense of war in the social media age. Media, War & Conflict, 16 (2). pp. 153-172. ISSN 1750-6360 doi: 10.1177/17506352211037325

Abstract/Summary

Online media is a blessing and a curse for academic research on war. On the one hand, the internet provides unprecedented access to information from conflict zones. On the other hand, the prevalence of disinformation can make it difficult to use this information in a transparent way. This article proposes digital forensic process tracing as a methodological innovation to tackle this challenge and make case study research on the causes of war fit for the social media age. It argues that two important features of process-tracing methodology – source criticism and Bayesian updating – are well developed in theory but are rarely applied to the study of armed conflict. Digital forensic process tracing applies these features to online media sources by drawing on the journalistic practice of open source intelligence (OSINT) analysis. This article uses the case of the war in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed methodology.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/125186
Identification Number/DOI	10.1177/17506352211037325
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Politics and International Relations
Publisher	Sage
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item