Tools & Resources

Everything you need to monitor, investigate, and take action for peace, justice, and non-violent social change.

OSINT & Investigation Tools

Tools and methods to track conflicts, misinformation, and escalation risk.

ACLED

Event data on conflicts & civilian harm

Why: Identifies where violence and civilian impact occur

Example: Use ACLED to find incident clusters by date and region

Learn more

GDELT

Global news & narrative tracking

Why: Detects shifts in media narratives that may precede escalation

Example: Use GDELT to spot narrative changes before an escalation

Learn more

Bellingcat

Geolocation & verification workflows

Why: Provides techniques to verify imagery and media

Example: Follow Bellingcat workflows to geolocate a photo

Learn more

SpiderFoot

Automated public footprint gatherer

Why: Uncovers public connections between domains, IPs, emails and social accounts

Example: Map corporate subdomains and publicly listed emails for a supplier

Learn more

Recon-ng

Modular reconnaissance framework

Why: Provides repeatable module-based OSINT searches

Example: Run Recon-ng modules to collect officers and corporate filings data

Learn more

theHarvester

Collects public emails, subdomains and hosts

Why: Helps map a company’s public internet footprint

Example: Enumerate hosts and public email addresses for a defense contractor

Learn more

World Monitor

Real-time dashboard: global conflicts, country instability, displacement & live intel feeds

Why: Aggregates ACLED, UNHCR, NASA FIRMS and live intelligence streams into one geopolitical interface

Example: Track live military escalation, humanitarian crises and regional risk scores across 180+ countries

Learn more

Maltego CE

Visual relationship & network mapping

Why: Makes complex relationships between people and organizations easy to visualise

Example: Create a graph linking a lobbying firm, contractors and donors

Learn more

Shodan

Search for exposed devices and services

Why: Reveals exposed infrastructure and potential operational systems

Example: Check for exposed servers or services linked to supplier logistics

Learn more

Metagoofil

Extracts metadata from public documents (PDF, DOC, etc.)

Why: Metadata can show authorship, server paths and software versions

Example: Find document author or internal paths that corroborate timelines

Learn more

Creepy

Geolocation & public social-post mapping

Why: Verifies location claims by mapping content on public accounts

Example: Map field photos posted publicly to confirm date and place

Learn more

IntelOwl

Enriches feeds and threat intel from public sources

Why: Aggregates and enriches lists for easier analysis

Example: Add sanctions or registry info to a supplier list for context

Learn more

Sublist3r

Enumerates subdomains and public hostnames

Why: Finds previously unknown public services related to an organisation

Example: Discover hidden portals hosting procurement files

Learn more

Censys

Search engine for hosts and TLS certificates

Why: Shows hosting relationships and infrastructure connections

Example: Identify shared hosting between agencies and contractors

Learn more

FOCA

Metadata extraction for documents

Why: Reveals hidden items in attachments (authors, paths)

Example: Extract metadata from a tender PDF to trace origin

Learn more

OSINT-BOX

Community datasets & tool collections for offline use

Why: Packages tools and datasets for privacy-respecting analysis

Example: Set up a local tool collection for training or workshops

Learn more

📄 Document Processing & OCR Tools

Extract text from scanned documents, images, and PDFs with open-source OCR engines. Essential for archival research, leaked document analysis, and historical record digitization.

🔤 Open-Source OCR Engines

  • Tesseract 5 — Industry standard OCR; supports 100+ languages; command-line and library
  • PaddleOCR — Multilingual, fast, pre-trained models; easy Python integration
  • EasyOCR — High accuracy, 80+ languages, PyTorch-based, simple API
  • Dots OCR (RedNote HiLab) — Lightweight, efficient document processing, optimized for Chinese/multilingual text
  • DeepSeek-OCR-2 — Advanced vision language model for document analysis, structured data extraction, table recognition

🛠 Text Processing Pipeline

  • Rich — Format and display OCR output with syntax highlighting
  • Python Requests + PIL/Pillow — Batch download images/PDFs, resize, preprocess
  • OCRmyPDF — Embed OCR text layer into PDFs while preserving original layout
  • Kraken — High-accuracy OCR for historical documents and manuscripts

💾 Data Organization

  • SQLite FTS5 — Full-text search on extracted text; fast queries
  • Elasticsearch — Distributed search engine for large document collections
  • Weaviate — Vector database for semantic document search

Workflow Example: Download leaked PDFs → OCR with DeepSeek/PaddleOCR → Extract entities (names, amounts, dates) → Store in SQLite FTS5 → Search and cross-reference → Export findings as structured CSV/JSON.

Public APIs & Open Data Resources

Build Your Own Solutions

Instead of relying on corporate data services, use free and open-source APIs to collect, analyze, and visualize data directly. These resources are maintained by communities and trusted organizations.

📊 Data & Analytics

  • ACLED — Armed conflict events and patterns globally
  • GDELT — News narratives, geopolitical signals, escalation monitoring
  • UNOSAT — Satellite imagery for infrastructure and humanitarian impact
  • SIPRI — Military spending, arms transfers, military budgets

🔍 Investigation & OSINT

  • Bellingcat — Geolocation, image verification, open-source methods
  • Shodan — Internet device discovery and mapping
  • SpiderFoot — Automated reconnaissance and OSINT automation
  • theHarvester — Email, subdomain, and host discovery

🛠 Developer APIs

  • Public APIs directory — Thousands of free APIs for every purpose
  • GitHub — Open-source repositories, collaborative development
  • OpenWeather, GeoNames — Free geolocation and environmental data

📋 Corporate & Lobbying Data

  • LobbyFacts — EU lobbying register with company and spending data
  • Transparency International — Corruption, government spending databases
  • SIPRI Arms Database — Weapons transfers by country, company

🌍 Environmental & Procurement

  • Copernicus (ESA) — Free satellite data for climate and environment
  • TradeHub / COMTRADE — UN trade statistics
  • National transparency portals — Public procurement in ES, IT, FR, DE

Why Open-Source? The Corporate Digital Collapse

Corporate platforms are losing their value. Here's why your alternative matters.

The problem: For over a decade, corporate digital services relied on a closed model: proprietary platforms, opaque pricing, licensing lock-in, and centralized control. This worked because there were no credible alternatives at scale.

That condition no longer exists. Large language models (LLMs) combined with mature open-source ecosystems are structurally undermining the value proposition of big tech products.

→ How corporate digital services decay to zero (click to expand)
  • 1. Compression by LLMs: Search (replaced by ChatGPT), customer support (chatbots), analytics (self-service BI), content production—features that cost $5K+/month now cost $20/month or $0.
  • 2. Open-source defeats proprietary: Every corporate tool has an open equivalent gaining adoption. Metabase eats Tableau. Mattermost replaces Slack. Users vote with their data.
  • 3. Institutional distrust accelerates collapse: US Big Tech companies are weaponized by state and capital: surveillance, censorship, regulatory capture, geopolitical coercion. When alternatives exist, defection is inevitable.
  • 4. Community-driven wins on speed: Open-source teams move faster than corporations. Ollama shipped in weeks. OpenAI spent years securing capital.

What this means for you:

  • Evaluate alternatives: Before buying a corporate tool, check if an open-source equivalent exists.
  • Build your own stack: Combine specialized open tools instead of relying on one corporate platform.
  • Support interoperable systems: Prefer tools that export data, use open standards, and don't lock you in.
  • Join communities, not platforms: Open-source projects are controlled by users, not shareholders.

Open-Source Alternatives to Corporate Products

Corporate Service Open-Source Alternative Benefits
Google Suite (Gmail, Docs) NextCloud, OnlyOffice, LibreOffice Self-hosted, no data extraction, portable
Zoom Jitsi Meet, Element (Matrix), BigBlueButton End-to-end encrypted, federated, community-run
Slack Mattermost, Rocketchat, Zulip Transparent, full data control, export anytime
Salesforce/HubSpot (CRM) Odoo, SuiteCRM, Pimcore Customizable, no vendor lock-in, lower cost
ChatGPT (Proprietary AI) Ollama, LLaMA, GPT4All (local models) Run locally, no data sent to servers, free
Tableau/PowerBI (Analytics) Metabase, Apache Superset, Grafana Dashboard control, SQL direct, community support

Power Networks: The Epstein Files Investigation

Why This Matters

In 2025, over 60,000 pages of Epstein-related documents were officially released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee and federal courts. These documents expose institutional failures, complicity networks, and power dynamics that enabled decades of abuse.

📊 Complete Analysis Guide

Download the comprehensive guide: document acquisition workflow, full-text search database setup, entity extraction, co-occurrence analysis, and reproducible methodology for investigating power networks.

📥 Download Complete Guide (200 KB)

Includes: JMail.world email database, text extraction pipeline (Python + OCR), SQLite FTS5 database, entity mapping, co-occurrence analysis, timeline reconstruction.

Reclaim Your Digital Life: Legitimate Alternatives

Why reclaim digital infrastructure?

  • Corporate control = data weaponization: Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple track everything. Your data is sold to state agencies (NSA, GCHQ, law enforcement).
  • Algorithmic manipulation: Corporate platforms optimize for engagement, polarization, and compliance. Your feed is a behavioral control tool.
  • Arbitrary enforcement: Sudden bans, suspensions, content removal without due process. No appeal. No transparency.

🌐 Browser & Search — Reclaim Privacy

  • Chrome (Google tracking) → Brave (built-in ad-blocking), Firefox (open-source), Ungoogled Chromium (privacy fork).
  • Google Search → DuckDuckGo (no IP logging), SearXNG (privacy metasearch).
  • YouTube → Invidious (YouTube without tracking/algorithm).

💬 Social Media & Communication

  • Instagram, TikTok → Mastodon (federated, no algorithm), Pixelfed (photo sharing).
  • Twitter/X → Mastodon (open, decentralized).
  • Facebook → Diaspora (federated), Signal (encrypted messaging).

🎬 Media Centers

  • Netflix, Disney+ → Jellyfin (self-hosted media), Kodi (media center).
  • Spotify → Subsonic, Airsonic (self-hosted music).

All of these are legal, production-ready, and often superior to corporate alternatives. You keep your data. No account bans. No algorithm.

Campaign Templates & Materials

Download petitions, MP email templates, briefing PDFs and media assets

Petition templates

Download ready-to-send petitions demanding diplomacy, ceasefires and humanitarian prioritization.

Download EN

MP / Representative email templates

Copy-and-paste email templates to contact MPs and local representatives.

Download EN

Briefing PDFs for journalists and policymakers

One-page briefing templates for journalists and policymakers.

Download EN

AI prompt library

Personalize messages and briefings with our safe AI prompt templates.

AI prompts (EN) Prompt AI (IT)

How to use templates in 10 minutes

  1. Open the most relevant template (petition, mp-email, briefing).
  2. Edit the first line to add target, dates and a short ask—avoid jargon.
  3. Add 1–2 evidence lines and link to the briefing or monitoring log.
  4. Run OSINT safety checklist: citations, image provenance, doxxing checks.
  5. Publish, then log the link and key metrics (signatures, replies, mentions).

Quick MP message example (copy-and-paste):

Dear [MP Name],
I'm a constituent and I urge you to request an independent audit of contract [#] due to concerns about [brief impact]. Please ask the minister to pause any further disbursements until the review is complete.

See the briefing template for evidence structure. When in doubt, consult the OSINT safety resources before publishing.

Toolkit: Investigation, Whistleblowing & Real Impact

AI & Automation for Campaigns

Use AI and open-source tools to automate research, data cleaning, and coordination. Always verify AI outputs with human fact-checking.

⚙️ Practical AI Workflows

Don't let AI do your thinking for you. Use it to save time on boring stuff so you can focus on what matters: understanding your issue, talking to people, organizing action.

📖 Read the full resources → AI for Campaigns: A Practical Resources for Activists

Real use cases:
  • Summarizing reports: Feed a 100-page UN report to an LLM, get a 1-page summary with key facts. Then verify it against the original.
  • Finding patterns: Train a model on news articles to detect when escalation language appears. Helps you spot when things are getting worse.
  • Cleaning messy data: You have a spreadsheet of corporate contracts in 5 different formats? Use data tools to standardize and cross-check.
  • Generating outreach: AI can help personalize emails to MPs at scale. But YOU write the message, YOU verify the facts.
  • Organizing evidence: Use version-controlled databases to track who said what, when. Tamper-proof record keeping.

SmashingLearning: Train Models on Your Data

Use LLaMA Factory and easy-dataset to create datasets and fine-tune models on campaign-specific language, terminology, and evidence patterns.

Example: Train a model to recognize propaganda narratives in news feeds, detect fake claims in corporate statements, or summarize witness testimony consistently.

→ GitHub Repo & Resources

Open-source LLMs: Run Models Locally

LLaMA 2 • Mistral • OLLAMA

Run on your own hardware. No cloud dependency. No API logging. Perfect for sensitive campaigns in countries with surveillance.

Data Validation & Cleaning

OpenRefine — Hands-on data cleaning without coding. Dolt — Version-controlled databases.

Track changes in contracts, spending, corporate records. See who changed what, when. Build an auditable trail.

Workflow Automation

Apache Airflow — Schedule and monitor data pipelines. Run reports automatically.

Example: Every morning, download latest arms export data, cross-check against your target list, flag new contracts.

Sentiment & Narrative Analysis

Detect propaganda, escalation language, and disinformation in real time.

Use case: Monitor official statements and news feeds. When language shifts toward war rhetoric, alert your network. Get ahead of escalation.

Collaborative Investigation

Tools for teams to organize evidence securely and share findings responsibly.

Bellingcat methodology • Shared spreadsheets with access controls • Encrypted document stores.

Safety & Ethics: Using AI Responsibly

Never trust AI alone. It's a tool. It makes mistakes. It can hallucinate. It can be biased.

Rules:
  • ✓ Verify every claim against primary sources
  • ✓ Use local models in high-risk countries (no cloud API logging)
  • ✓ Keep datasets encrypted and version-controlled
  • ✓ Train models only on verified data
  • ✗ Never expose sources in plaintext to commercial LLM APIs

See Privacy & Security resources for threat modeling and safe AI use in restricted contexts.