Charlotte Maher

In a time of crisis, social media is flooded with images, videos and bold claims. This can be useful for researchers like ourselves but overwhelming for the general public seeking the facts. At Bellingcat, we pride ourselves on providing tools and resources for our audience to think critically about sources they find online. In this short guide, we give a few tips on what to consider when confronted with an abundance of footage and claims.

More than 32,000 homeless families in England and Wales have been abandoned by councils since 2015 because they missed at least one step in a rigid process for getting help. Leading campaigners worry vulnerable people — including those with mental health problems — are being left on the streets because of things as minor as missing an email or an undelivered letter.

When Sallie* found herself homeless last November, she was desperate. Her ex-partner had turned abusive. She took her two children and ran. She couldn’t afford to rent anywhere near her older son’s school and her younger’s nursery and was turned away from the local domestic violence refuge. “It was really difficult, I didn’t know what to do. I walked into a police station and they referred me to the council,” she said. It was here that a new piece of legislation should have helped her.