Digital investigations. Human stories.

On 2 January 2026, an airstrike on central Masisi, eastern DRC, reportedly killed 22 and injured at least 40 others. The strike destroyed homes and also damaged the offices of War Child, an NGO serving children affected by conflict. M23, a Rwandan-backed Congolese paramilitary group, and the Congolese government – opposing sides in a conflict with causes stretching back at least 30 years – have since blamed each other for the attack.

CIR Co-Founder Ross Burley reflects on why CIR is documenting the war in Israel and Gaza, how we work in a hostile information environment, and what sustained open-source analysis is revealing about civilian harm and accountability.

As Grok’s AI image tool is used at scale to generate abusive content, a rapid analysis by CIR investigators draws out five emerging lessons for platforms, regulators and policymakers. Based on a review of over 1,600 abusive prompts, the findings highlight how even basic safeguards can have a substantive effect in limiting the ease, scale and severity of abuse.