A five-day training course supported by EUBAM Libya took place on Open Source and Social Media Intelligence (OSINT) from 20 - 24 August 2023.

It brought together 13 representatives of Libyan Law Enforcement Agencies in Tunis. The training aimed at enhancing law enforcement agencies’ capacities to effectively collect information available over open source platforms.

Vincenzo Giancarlo Cardinale, Senior Advisor and Project Manager of EUBAM Libya, underlined the role of the Mission in supporting Libyan law enforcement agencies to respond to new challenges.

He added: ‘This training in Open Source and Social Media Intelligence has been useful in strengthening the specialised capacities of Libyan law enforcement agencies to better detect terrorist threats and criminal offences such as migrant smuggling and trafficking of human beings, which are increasingly finding their way online, and assist in identifying those involved in committing them.’

Constantly evolving

The Head of EUBAM Libya Natalina Cea stated that, ‘Open Source Intelligence is a crucial aspect of combating organised crime and terrorism in the 21st century. The technology used by criminals is constantly evolving and it is imperative that security authorities adapt to this fact and enhance their capacity.’

Mohamed Alkaout, the Head of the Technology Department of the Libyan Counter Terrorism Centre, who was attending and shared his expertise and knowledge stated, ‘The Libyan Center for Combating Terrorism (CTC) and the EUBAM Libya have collaborated to offer this training course as part of their joint efforts to enhance the Libyan state institutions’ capacity to fight terrorism.’

Furthermore he said, ‘The course aims to equip the participants with the best practices and methods to implement the Libyan strategy to combat terrorism, which consists of four pillars. The training focused on the first two pillars, which are related to building capabilities and monitoring terrorist activities.’

Combating crime

Through this training, EUBAM Libya aims to enhance capacities of combating organized crime and terrorism in general. Criminals’ and terrorists' use of the internet and social media has increased dramatically in recent years. These groups have shown an advanced understanding of how social networks work and launch campaigns on social media to recruit followers and promote their activity.