Investigations
After admitting to “mistakes” in taking down Greek journalists’ accounts, Facebook refuses to talk to journalists’ union
Alexia Barakou / Investigate Europe / Reporters United

After admitting to “mistakes” in taking down Greek journalists’ accounts, Facebook refuses to talk to journalists’ union

Facebook admitted it made “mistakes” in its content moderation when it suspended the accounts of journalists reporting on a hunger strike by a jailed terrorist in Greece. But when the journalists’ union requested a meeting with the company, they were turned down by Facebook’s PR agency.

Police abuse in Greece: Disinfaux Collective report examines rogue petrol bomb video and reveals possible police ties to shady pro-government group
Screenshots: Disinfaux Collective

Police abuse in Greece: Disinfaux Collective report examines rogue petrol bomb video and reveals possible police ties to shady pro-government group

In a Reporters United exclusive, technical analysis of mobile phone footage by OSINT group Disinfaux Collective appears to show a police officer throwing a petrol bomb during the recent disturbances in Athens, while a separate video appears to link police with a pro-New Democracy social media account.

Facebook admits to “mistakes” in suspending user accounts in Greece in controversial hunger strike case
Alexia Barakou / Reporters United / Investigate Europe

Facebook admits to “mistakes” in suspending user accounts in Greece in controversial hunger strike case

Reporters, photojournalists, lawyers and academics commenting on the hunger strike of convicted terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas found their Facebook accounts suspended by the platform. Facebook admitted “mistakes” but failed to provide a full explanation conceding rather magnanimously: “We do allow people to neutrally discuss”.

Beware Greeks breaking ships
Source: Toxic Tide, 2020 / www.offthebeach.org / NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

Beware Greeks breaking ships

For another year, Greek shipping has been branded the “top dumper” globally in 2020, for sending the largest number ships to be broken up in unregulated scrap yards on the beaches of South Asia, a practice with a heavy environmental and human cost – which is also illegal under EU law. In the list of ships which the EU classifies as toxic waste, we identified 48 vessels whose former owners include some of the biggest names in Greek shipping.

The murky waters of the Laskaridis shipping empire
A fishing vessel transfers its catch to the reefer in Antarctica. © Andrew McConnell / Greenpeace

The murky waters of the Laskaridis shipping empire

The Laskaridis brothers are pillars of the Greek shipping establishment. Their charitable foundations sponsor beach clean-ups, Greek heritage projects and the Greek navy. Outside Greece, their shipping businesses have been caught engaging in controversial and polluting practices while using flags of convenience.

The deadly secret of China’s invisible armada
© Fábio Nascimento / The Outlaw Ocean

The deadly secret of China’s invisible armada

Desperate North Korean fishermen are washing ashore as skeletons because of the world's largest illegal fleet. The first in a series of investigations by Ian Urbina published exclusively in Greece by Reporters United as part of our collaboration with the Outlaw Ocean Project.

The logbook of Moria

We found a personnel logbook in the ashes of Europe’s most notorious refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos. It shows the horrors that unaccompanied minors were left to endure, documented by the people who were there to protect them—even as they often felt unable to do so. It’s a first-hand document of Europe’s failure to protect the most vulnerable.