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Richard Nield

@rnield01.bsky.social
62 followers 125 following 64 posts

Investigative journalist, editor and research analyst. Middle East & Africa, Sudan & South Sudan. richardnield.substack.com/ linkedin.com/in/richard-nield/

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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
10 years of Sheffield DocFest have introduced me to some extraordinary docs. In the first in a new series I showcase some standout films, inc: 🎥 Jim: The James Foley Story 🎥 Cameraperson 🎥 Icarus 🎥 Under the Wire #journalism #conflict #corruption @perspicacity.media substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Frontline Journalism, Doping in Russian Sports, Nuclear Arms
10 years of extraordinary documentary films - Part 1 (2016-2018)
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Some expert reports resonate well beyond a specialist audience. I've written a short post distilling 'Beyond the Axis', an outstanding 60-page report on the evolution of Iran's 'Axis of Resistance', into a 3-minute read. richardnield.substack.com/p/rethinking... #IranWar‌ #MiddleEast
richardnield.substack.com
Rethinking Iran's 'Axis of Resistance'
From central hub to networked ecosystem
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
1/5 Every so often a piece of research can fundamentally change your way of thinking about something. This outstanding report about #Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' is one of those... tcf.org/content/repo...
tcf.org
Beyond the Axis
Download the Beyond the Axis PDF Overview: Hubs, Spokes, and Worldwide Webs In February 2026, the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran that
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
1/4 Trump’s $1.7 trillion in projected defence spending in 2027 is double that of previous administrations, according to independent analysis quoted in this article in Popular Information.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I'm now posting my work in the online magazine 'perspicacity' - focused on disinformation, corruption and human rights. You can read it here: richardnield.substack.com And follow on BlueSky here: bsky.app/profile/pers...
richardnield.substack.com
perspicacity | Richard Nield | Substack
An insight into global affairs focusing on disinformation, corruption, and human rights. Featuring rigorous investigative journalism and fact-based analysis, helping readers navigate an increasingly d...
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Was Iran "2-4 weeks" from nuclear weapons? Read my latest piece, on disinformation in the Iran conflict. It looks at how official claims, viral content and AI-generated material are shaping what people think is happening. richardnield.substack.com/p/the-fog-of...
richardnield.substack.com
The Fog of War
Distortion and deception in the Iran conflict
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
My latest article deals with the #humanrights implications of #AI, from image rights & intellectual property to freedoms from surveillance & discrimination and the right to give informed consent for medical procedures. richardnield.substack.com/p/balancing-...
richardnield.substack.com
Balancing AI in Government with Citizens’ Human Rights
If we don't decide now what rights we want to preserve in the age of AI, we risk losing them.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Edition 11 of perspicacity’s Conflict & Human Rights Update is published! 😊💫 🎉 Featuring: ➡️ assassination of Colombian presidential candidate ➡️ renewed evidence of Gaza genocide ➡️ Kenyan protestors killed by police ➡️ famine in South Sudan tinyurl.com/bde3hy3f #humanrights #genocide #famine
tinyurl.com
Conflict & Human Rights Update #11
Genocide, assassination, famine
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Members of the US Congress House of Representatives have been banned from using WhatsApp due to lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, & potential security risks. Officials instead recommend Signal, iMessage, Teams. (via Reuters tinyurl.com/4s6dynar)
reuters.com
WhatsApp banned on US House of Representatives devices, memo shows
Meta disagreed with the move "in the strongest possible terms," a company spokesperson said.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Proud to be featured in the second edition of the 3Space zine 'Tall Storeys'! Thanks to Lois Stevenson and all at 3space! 😀😎🎉🥳 www.instagram.com/reel/DNC9rz5...
instagram.com
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Published! 🤩💥 Ed9 of my Media & #Disinformation newsletter, featuring: ➡️ Grok 3 'study' claims humans not responsible for #globalwarming ➡️ Meta fails to prevent advertising of health scams to users ➡️ Russia's disinfo campaign against France ➡️ Trump’s muzzling of US press tinyurl.com/3zehfzjp
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
The US has been by far the largest aid donor to Yemen in the past 5 years. The withdrawal of this aid is having devastating consequences. Featured in Edition 9 of Perspicacity's Conflict & Human Rights newsletter tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #malnutrition #GBV #displacement #Trump #USAID
Summary of Amnesty International article about the devastating consequences of the US withdrawal of aid from Yemen
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Venezuela has met protests against the dubious results of the 2024 elections with brutal repression - featuring in the latest Conflict & Human Rights newsletter from Perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #HumanRights #repression #elections #Maduro
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
The Trump White House is repurposing the concept of #terrorism to go after drug cartels, migrants & domestic political opponents, as well as threatening war with Mexico - featured in the latest Conflict & Human Rights update from Perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #WarOnTerror #Terrorism #Trump
Summary of analysis by International Crisis Group on the repurposing of the US war on terror to target domestic concerns of President Trump
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Myanmar's military carried out dozens of air strikes despite announcing a ceasefire in the aftermath of the country's worst earthquake in decades - read more in the latest Conflict & Human Rights update from perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v
Summary of investigation by Centre for Information Resilience on airstrikes by Myanmar military in aftermath of worst earthquake in decades
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Israeli leaders are seeking to take away the Islamist group’s capacity to govern #Gaza by targeting its top civilian administrators and blowing up what remains of the enclave’s public infrastructure - more in the latest Conflict & #HumanRights update from Perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
France has accused Russia over cyberattacks against the country spanning more than a decade. Featured in Ed9 of Perspicacity's Conflict & Human Rights update tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #cybercrime #cyberwarfare
A summary of an article on The Verge about Russian cyberattacks against France
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
The Sudanese military recaptured Khartoum, but war rages on with foreign support, and there's a risk of conflict spreading to #Chad and #SouthSudan - featured in the latest Conflict & Human Rights newsletter from Perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #HumanRights #Sudan #Conflict #RSF
Summary of analysis from International Crisis Group of the raging war in Sudan and the risk of it spreading to Chad and South Sudan
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Arbitrary detention has become a cornerstone of Tunisia's repressive policies, aimed at depriving citizens of their rights - featuring in Edition 9 of Perspicacity's Conflict & Human Rights update tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #Tunisia #repression #humanrights
Summary of article by Human Rights Watch about arbitrary detention as a tool of repression in Tunisia.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
#China is exporting its #repression playbook to its overseas operations - featuring in Ed9 of Perspicacity's Conflict & Human Rights update tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v
Text summary of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists about China's use of its domestic repression tactics overseas.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Witchcraft accusations in Ghana are driving elderly and disadvantaged women from their homes - featuring in the latest Conflict & Human Rights newsletter from Perspicacity tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #humanrights #witchcraft
Summary of a story from Amnesty International about the impact of witchcraft accuasations in Ghana.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Published! 🎉🎉 #Conflict & #HumanRights Update 9, featuring: the tools of China’s overseas repression, Russian cyberattacks in France, the plight of those accused of witchcraft in Ghana, & the US gov’s reframing of #terrorism to include domestic opponents tinyurl.com/2fbtzx9v #elections #displacement
tinyurl.com
Conflict and Human Rights Update #9
Aid cuts, witchcraft, and the new war on 'terror'
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Generative AI search tools returned incorrect information 60% of the time in this test of their ability to retrieve and cite specific content by @columjournreview.bsky.social and the @towcenter.bsky.social. Grok was wrong an astonishing 94% of the time. #AI #media #misinformation
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
The war in Gaza has had a catastrophic impact on food production, with three quarters of its cropland damaged or destroyed, according to the @cen4infores.bsky.social #humanrights #warcrimes #malnutrition For this & more on conflict & human rights issues: richardnield.substack.com/p/conflict-a...
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Published! Ed7 of my newsletter on international Crime & Corruption. This edition features industrial-scale scam centres in N Korea & Myanmar; trafficking of cocaine & fentanyl in Latam and synthetic drug Captagon in Syria; the resilience of the Sicilian mafia... (1/2) tinyurl.com/yuv4cmnd
open.substack.com
Crime & Corruption Update #7
Scam centres, fentanyl and the Sicilian mafia
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
In Egypt, public prosecutors neglect to investigate torture of police detainees via @arijnetwork.bsky.social #humanrights #torture #Egypt
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Coming soon! #moneylaundering #drugtrafficking #corruption #fraud #mafia #sanctions
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Governments may suck, but people are kind. An antidote to the current global moment. My latest Substack post on perspicacity - On the Kindness of Strangers tinyurl.com/rx4vfuh9
tinyurl.com
On the kindness of strangers
Governments may suck, but people are kind
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
#Meta stops fact-checking, China launches #DeepSeek, China & Russia interfere in elections in Spain, Germany & Croatia, EU investigates X support for German far right. Read more in latest edition of perspicacity @ tinyurl.com/y9ajdj24 😊 #disinformation #influenceoperations #electioninterference
A bar chart showing China is the largest jailer of journalists, followed by Israel and the OPT, Myanmar, Belarus and Russia. #pressfreedom #freedomofspeech
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
My latest international Crime & Corruption update! - how Iran moves sanctioned oil - Chinese suppliers behind ads for deadly opioids targeting Europe - evolution of migrant smuggling on French coast - organised crime fueling M23 crisis in eastern DRC richardnield.substack.com/p/crime-and-...
richardnield.substack.com
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Deep (and easy) fakes, the liar's dividend & the fatal consequences of disinformation - #1 in a series from the brilliant #disinformation conference in Riga organised by @disinfo.eu @matybohacek.bsky.social @melissafleming.bsky.social @dfrlab.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bdek3b4r #AI #Disinfo2024
richardnield.substack.com
AI and the liar's dividend
Notes from Riga: The disinformation challenge
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Reposted by Richard Nield
Shayan Sardarizadeh @shayan86.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Donald Trump Jr has also shared this fake E! News video about USAID, which is the work of a well-known Russian influence operation that creates fake videos of major news outlets to disparage Ukraine. This fake video now has more than 8 million views on X.
Screenshot of Donald Trump Jr sharing a fake video about USAID which was created by a Russian influence operation
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Welcome to the Edition 2 of my #Environment update! ➡ $1 trn raised for fossil fuels by banks committed to #netzero ➡ lack of #humanrights protections in electric vehicle industry ➡ #illegallogging in Europe & S America ➡ #oilspills from Russian tankers evading #sanctions tinyurl.com/358ha33d
open.substack.com
Environment Update #2
Oil spills, illegal logging, and electric vehicles
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I've just published the first edition of my new Environment newsletter, in my online magazine, Perspicacity! 🥳 💥⚡ 🎉 😊 This edition is a one-off special dedicated to the global climate conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan Enjoy! #climate #climatechange #corruption open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Russian #disinformation, Israeli spyware, and freedom of information are among the topics of the latest Media & Disinformation update from the online magazine perspicacity - published today – featuring the best investigative journalism on the issue richardnield.substack.com/p/media-and-...
richardnield.substack.com
Media and Disinformation Update #5
Russian propaganda, Israeli spyware, and freedom of information
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Welcome to Edition 5 of the Crime & Corruption update in my newsletter, ‘perspicacity’. Featuring cryptocurrency, drug dead drops, and Russia's use of organised crime as a tool of statecraft. Enjoy! #Corruption #financialcrime #illicitfinance #sanctions #Crypto open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
An arrest warrant for Netanyahu, the imprisonment of political opponents in Hong Kong, and the Taliban's ban on showing people in the media - the latest Conflict & Human Rights newsletter from perspicacity richardnield.substack.com/p/conflict-a...
richardnield.substack.com
Conflict and Human Rights Update #5
An arrest warrant for Netanyahu, the imprisonment of political opponents in Hong Kong, and the Taliban's ban on showing people in the media
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
A fake Kamala Harris campaign, #misinformation on X, and criminal networks on Telegram - my latest #Media & #Disinformation newsletter, published on perspicacity open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
Media and Disinformation Update #4
A fake Kamala Harris campaign, misinformation on X, and criminal networks on Telegram
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Oil spills, money laundering, and the perils of political donations, all featuring in the fourth edition of perspicacity's 4th Crime & Corruption Update, published today open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
Crime & Corruption Update #4
Oil spills, money laundering, and the perils of political donations
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
Chemical weapons, forced labour, Saudi supermarket workers - just some of the issues featuring in my 4th conflict & human rights update @hrw.org @amnestyuk.bsky.social @amnesty.org @crisisgroup.org @freedomnoworg.bsky.social @c4ads.org @lhreports.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
Conflict and Human Rights Update #4
Chemical weapons, forced labour, and supermarket workers in Saudi Arabia
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
It's nice to see some growth in the Bluesky community. Thanks Elon! open.substack.com/pub/richardn... #Musk #X #Twitter #exodus
open.substack.com
Time to break up with your X?
From today, Musk can use your formerly-known-as Twitter content to train his AI bot
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
#SouthSudan faces challenges on multiple fronts. 75% of the population is in humanitarian need; the planned first elections for 14 years have just been delayed until 2026. I've shared some thoughts after my meeting with the UK Foreign Office earlier this week open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
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Reposted by Richard Nield
EU DisinfoLab @disinfo.eu · 10/10/2024
And just like that, #Disinfo2024 has come to an end! 🥹 A huge thank you to all the speakers, attendees, and the team for two days of inspiring discussions and exchanges ✨ Onward in tackling disinformation! 💪👋
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 30/09/2024
3 yrs after the #Taliban retook control of #Afghanistan, the latest edition of perspicacity features investigations on the regime's treatment of women, including analysis implicating officials in more than half the reported incidents of gender-based violence open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
Conflict and Human Rights Update #2 - September 2024
Civil society repression, gender-based violence and US arms sales
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 16/08/2024
Hacking, cocaine, KFC chicken & nuclear weapon security all feature in the launch edition of my newsletter on international crime & #corruption... #MoneyLaundering #AML #IslamicState #logging #disinformation #bribery @crisisgroup.org @icij.bsky.social richardnield.substack.com/p/crime-and-...
richardnield.substack.com
Crime & Corruption Update #1, August 2024
Hacking, cocaine and KFC chicken
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 08/08/2024
QAnon, AI, fraudulent use of copyright, Facebook abuse, digital authoritarianism, election propaganda and more, all in my latest Media and #Disinformation Update open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
open.substack.com
Media and Disinformation Update #1, August 2024
Welcome to the first edition of perspicacity’s Media and Disinformation Update!
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 07/08/2024
@tbij.bsky.social examines suggestions that #Russia-linked #disinformation behind the UK riots that began in #Southport www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024...
thebureauinvestigates.com
Did Russian disinformation fuel the Southport protests?
TBIJ looked at the digital footprint and spoke to protestors – and the evidence is weak
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Reposted by Richard Nield
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 06/08/2024
The Bellingcat Search Grid tool allows you to overlay a simple grid on your research area, turning your geolocation search into manageable sections to work through. Created by Bellingcat community member Tomi McCluskey and Bellingcat’s Galen Reich . www.bellingcat.com/resources/ho...
bellingcat.com
Tracking Your Search: A Guide to the Grid Generator - bellingcat
The Search Grid Generator tool lays a simple grid over huge areas of satellite imagery, turning your search into manageable sections.
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 06/08/2024
The killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran has brought the Middle East to its moment of greatest peril in years. All must do their utmost to avoid regional war, starting with a #Gaza ceasefire, says @crisisgroup.org www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-...
crisisgroup.org
Staying the Guns of August: Avoiding All-out Regional War in the Middle East | Crisis Group
The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran has brought the Middle East to its moment of greatest peril in years. All concerned must do their utmost to avoid regional war. The most important ...
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Richard Nield @rnield01.bsky.social · 05/08/2024
A very warm welcome to the first edition of my newsletter on global #Conflict and #HumanRights issues, featuring the most penetrating reports & investigations published in July 2024 open.substack.com/pub/richardn...
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