Announcement: The global collective fighting against Russia's disinformation campaigns, Bellingcat and founder Eliot Higgins, win the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award 2023

The world-leading WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, with a prize sum of SEK 1 million is awarded this year to the international network Bellingcat - led by its founder, Eliot Higgins. Bellingcat is a network of investigative journalists fighting disinformation, and their revelations have exposed critical information about urgent global issues. The daughter award, WIN WIN Youth Award, is 2023 awarded to the disinformation expert and social media star Abbie Richards, the brain behind The Conspiracy Chart and a crucial force in building young people's resilience to disinformation.

Disinformation has the power to manipulate reality. Societal events, political discussions, and people's opinions are often subject to disinformation, leading to increased polarisation and conflict. But there are counterforces, individuals, and organisations who have taken it upon themselves to combat disinformation. The theme for the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award 2023 is Fighting Disinformation, and the winners are now announced.

This year's WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, with a prize sum of SEK 1 million, is awarded to Bellingcat and its founder Eliot Higgins, for their inspiring fight for truth and transparency, often at risk to their own safety. Eliot Higgins is set to attend the award ceremony at the esteemed Gothenburg Bourse, a historic landmark dating back to 1849, on 20 October to accept the award in person.

– We are truly honoured to be recognised for our contributions in the fight against disinformation, our innovative approach to investigative journalism, and our commitment to promoting a sustainable future. The award serves as a powerful reminder of our collective responsibility to work towards a brighter, more equitable, and sustainable future. The 1 million SEK will significantly enhance our ability to continue our investigative work, hold the powerful to account, and contribute to a more sustainable and democratic world. It serves as a testament to the potential of collaborative, open-source intelligence and the power of technology to drive meaningful change, says Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat.

Bellingcat's innovative techniques have spearheaded a new era of investigative journalism, resulting in the discovery of crucial information about pressing global issues. As an autonomous, international collective of journalists, researchers, and media analysts, Bellingcat employs open-source information, social media, and other publicly available resources to probe conflicts and crises across the globe. Notably, Bellingcat's findings played a significant role in the Oscar-winning documentary on Aleksei Navalny.

The jury is proud of the choice:

– It is with great pleasure that we announce Bellingcat as the recipient of the 2023 WIN WIN Award! Bellingcat is a strong role model and pioneer in the fight against disinformation. Through their adept utilisation of open-source information and cutting-edge digital tools, they have successfully uncovered crucial insights into urgent global issues. By making their tools and methods available to all, they contribute to increasing our common ability to handle and resist anti-democratic forces, says Annie Hohlfält, jury chairman, WIN WIN Award.

Winner of the WIN WIN Youth Award 2023: Abbie Richards
Since 2018, the international WIN WIN Youth Award has been awarded to young people who have gone from words to actions to contribute to the transition to a more sustainable world. This year's winner, who will receive a prize of SEK 50,000, is disinformation expert Abbie Richards - who has managed to get millions of users on social media to engage with issues of disinformation and conspiracy theories.

– It is such an honour to have been awarded the WIN WIN Youth Award. This year’s theme, “Fighting Disinformation”, highlights the increasing sense of urgency surrounding the issue of polluted information systems. I’m honoured to have been selected as the winner, but I want to highlight the work of the other four youth finalists: Kenny Dos Santos, Nitsan Yasur, Sophia Smith Galer, and Kaylin Dodson. All four of them do exceptional and essential work. In order to create information ecosystems that are more accurate, just, and equitable, we must incorporate the knowledge and experiences of young people in this field. Thank you again for this honour – I’m so excited to come to Sweden! says Abbie Richards.

Abbie Richards has created the interactive chart "The Conspiracy Chart", which has become widely popular around the world and used by both academics and government agencies to communicate the complexity of conspiracy theories. Abbie Richards is praised for her ability to educate and engage a wide audience using humour, facts, and accessible graphic design, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of some of today's most complex social issues.

Abbie Richards will receive the award at the annual award ceremony in Gothenburg on 20 October.

The jury’s motivation WIN WIN Award 2023
Bellingcat stands out as one of the most innovative practitioners of open-source intelligence and online journalism in the world. They have taken on the challenge of fighting disinformation, improving democratic discourse, and inspiring change that facilitates progress towards the UN Sustainable Goals 2030.

Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists that utilises open-source and social media investigation to uncover the truth about crimes against humanity and conflicts worldwide. Their efforts have included revealing the true stories of the missiles that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine and the chemical weapons used by the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, identifying neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, exposing Kremlin hit teams, and finding ISIS supporters in Europe.

As journalists, Bellingcat and its founder Eliot Higgins have a special role in creating truth not only for themselves but for all of society. Their remarkable organisational transparency in the fight against disinformation inspires the next generation of journalists to improve democratic discourse.

With contributors in over 20 countries worldwide, Bellingcat operates at the intersection of advanced technology, journalism, education and transparency. Their creative methods, which combine technology with forensic research, investigations, and accountability, expose some of the gravest crimes of our times. This has given rise to a new generation of journalism that advances narratives of conflict, crime, and human rights abuses while fighting disinformation.

For their outstanding contributions in the fight against disinformation, using innovative methods to uncover critical information about urgent global issues and paving the way for a new generation of investigative journalism, the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award 2023 is awarded to Bellingcat and Eliot Higgins.

The jury’s motivation WIN WIN Youth Award 2023
Abbie Richards is an outstanding young individual who uses her social media channels to educate and inform people about the broader socio-political framework of disinformation online. She is committed to fighting disinformation, improving democratic discourse, and inspiring other young people to engage in the topic.

Abbie Richards is a researcher, content creator, and educator on misinformation with a master’s degree in climate studies. One of her notable achievements is the creation of "The Conspiracy Chart," which visually and systematically organises different types of conspiracy theories and their societal impact. The chart effectively illustrates how conspiracy theories carry a radicalisation potential, showcasing different degrees of conspiracy theories ranging from scepticism and questioning of power to full detachment from reality. Since its online debut in September 2020, the chart has gone viral, generating a better understanding of the complex issue and facilitating discussion.

She has become a successful social media influencer who uses short videos to debunk false information and explain the mechanism behind disinformation and conspiracy theories by conducting thorough research and obtaining verification from independent experts. Her background as a stand-up comedian enables her to educate and inform a vast online audience about conspiracy theories and disinformation using an informative and humorous style.

For her remarkable ability to educate and engage a diverse audience using humour, facts, and accessible graphic design, as well as her ability to facilitate a deeper understanding of some of today's most complex and pressing societal issues, Abbie Richards is awarded the WIN WIN Youth Award 2023.

A comment from WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award
Investigating and exposing disinformation campaigns is often done at the risk of one's own safety. Those who spread disinformation are often powerful and influential actors who do everything in their power to discredit and undermine those who try to expose lies and manipulative tactics. This can include everything from personal harassment and threats to spreading rumours.

This means that even the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award may be subject to similar pressures this year. But this does not prevent the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award from standing firm on this year's theme, quite the opposite. It is important to recognise and highlight the courageous efforts that are being made.

In our work on this year's theme, we have met with experts in disinformation and security, researchers, and authorities. We have become aware of the great risks that this year's finalists and winners take in their work. We have also become aware of how the fight against disinformation is key to a democratic society and people's freedom of expression.

To enable more resilient and sustainable societies, we must find ways to use the internet to promote democracy, sustainable development, and movements towards a better world while managing the risks we now see so clearly. Fighting disinformation is crucial for our modern public discourse to function.