Dataharvest 2026 - the European Investigative Journalism Conference

A leak of several million emails from the Israeli Ministry of Justice revealed a long-running lawfare operation aimed at shielding Israeli policies toward Palestinians from legal scrutiny in international and European courts, while also seeking to criminalize protest and advocacy against Israeli human rights violations. Spanning nearly 15 years and involving more than a dozen European countries, the emails are written mainly in Hebrew and show how several European countries collaborated with Israel to ensure impunity for its illegal occupation, paving the way to future war crimes. Media in Israel-Palestine are barred from reporting on the leak due to a gag order, making international collaboration essential. The leaked collection of MoJ documents have been indexed and made searchable for the public in the Library of Leaks by the nonprofit whistleblower site Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS).

This session presents how an independent journalist, working with European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) and multiple European newsrooms, analysed and reported on the leak using straightforward, accessible methods. The investigation relied primarily on close reading, systematic memo-writing, manual timeline construction, and country-by-country mapping of key actors and legal strategies, complemented by cross-referencing the emails with publicly available records.

The talk will share practical lessons on making sense of large email leaks in multilingual contexts, combining leaked material with open-source and public-domain data, coordinating cross-border reporting under legal constraints, and maintaining accuracy through repeated verification and collaborative review.

More and more OSINT and data-driven investigations are being turned into documentaries for television and platforms. From the success of programs such as Cash Investigation in France, to Sweden’s flagship investigative show Uppdrag granskning, and internationally acclaimed documentaries such as the Oscar-winning Navalny (based on Bellingcat’s data-driven investigation) and the Emmy-winning Pegasus, data- , OSINT, and leak-based reporting is increasingly finding its way onto the screen.

But many journalists (specifically those who are not familiar with video production) are unsure whether their story is suitable for a documentary, or how to approach pitching, filming, security, or narration. This panel offers a practical methodology for turning an investigation into a documentary for journalists coming from print or online media. Drawing on concrete European case studies, we will explore how to pitch a documentary project to producers and broadcasters, when to start filming, how to protect sensitive data, and how to transform abstract data into compelling visual and narrative-driven storytelling.

After this session, participants will be able to:

-Assess whether a data/OSINT/leak-driven story is suitable for documentary storytelling
-Decide when and how to start filming during a data investigation
-Integrate audiovisual constraints (security, budget, narration) into their investigative workflow
 -Understand how to pitch a documentary based on a data investigation

AI-generated scam advertisements have flooded European social media platforms, using deepfake videos, cloned voices, and fabricated news stories to lure thousands of victims into fraudulent investment schemes. While the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) was designed to curb illegal and harmful content, these scams continue to spread at scale, exposing major gaps in platform enforcement and regulatory oversight.

This session will show how to investigate AI-driven scam ads and platform failure using publicly available tools, leaked material, and EU tech legislation. We will walk through how to find and identify and analyse AI-generated scam ads and deepfake content, use Meta's Ad Library to map scam campaigns, detect duplication and evasion tactics, and estimate scale. The session will also address how to collaborate effectively with civil society organisations and trusted flaggers to monitor platforms and access specialised expertise.

As part of the presentation, we'll also talk about how to investigate the Digital Services Act in practice, including transparency obligations, systemic-risk provisions and reporting mechanisms; how to document and report on failures of enforcement by platforms and public authorities, and how to connect platform-level analysis to human stories, including victims' experiences. That also includes how to responsibly handle leaked messages, call scripts, and fake trading platforms, balancing verification, security and ethical considerations.

The session will include concrete examples and live walkthroughs, showing how journalists can combine platform data, legal frameworks and human sources to hold tech companies and regulators accountable. 

Do you have questions or considerations about digital security? Do you need help setting up your hard disk encryption, or do you need advice on how to use a password manager? Would you like security advice on your personal software, hardware, or on precautions when traveling?

Bring your questions for a one-to-one session with our trainers. The individual consultations are suitable for small teams or individuals who have specific questions or face security concerns.

We will connect you with the digital security trainers, who may contact you before the conference to learn more about your concerns.

Topics:

• Hardening your devices
• Securing your accounts
• Spyware concerns
• Checking your digital footprint
• Whatever else you'd like to discuss!

Please note: you need to book a time slot in advance! You can do it HERE.