Framework, limits and ethics
What crisisinfo.ch is
A citizen initiative that:
- Shares confirmed official information
- Directs to the right contacts
- Helps reduce the overload on emergency lines
- Structures information to make it accessible
What this platform is NOT
- Not a media outlet — we do not produce information
- Not an authority — we make no decisions
- Not an investigative body — we do not seek the truth
- Not a participatory platform — you cannot contribute
- Not a social network — no comments, no sharing
Cardinal principle
If information does not exist officially elsewhere, it does not exist here.
We do not:
- synthesize
- interpret
- deduce
- anticipate
Sources used
We only publish information from:
- Institutional sources
Government websites, police, emergency services, official press releases - Verified named sources
Officials identifiable by their position, verified accounts
We NEVER use:
- Individual testimonies
- Media (except to trace back to an official source)
- Unverified social media
- Rumors, even "credible" ones
What we refused to publish
Concrete examples of information we did not relay:
- Names of victims — even when media published them
- Photos and videos of the tragedy — none, ever
- Unconfirmed death tolls — "47 dead" was circulating, we waited for the official figure
- Survivor testimonies — even moving ones, it's not our role
- Speculation about causes — we waited for the official lead ("fountains")
- Rumors "to debunk them" — amplifying a rumor, even to deny it, is still amplifying it
Our errors and corrections
We are not infallible. Examples of corrections made:
- January 3: Information about CMS Sierre published then removed (unverifiable source)
- January 4: Figure "36/40 identified" corrected to "24/40" (propagation error)
- January 5: Injured count corrected from 119 to 116 (official police correction)
Slowness is protection. A corrected error is better than a rumor never published.
Governance
This platform is managed with:
- 1 editorial manager
- Internal validation before any publication
- No automated publishing
- Systematic cross-verification of sources
Accepted limitations
What we don't know
We do not have access to privileged information. If authorities don't communicate, we have nothing to publish.
What we don't do
- We do not respond to individual messages
- We do not search for people
- We do not give medical or legal advice
- We do not comment on causes or responsibilities
How we measure success
Our definition of success is counter-intuitive:
- Success = users who find info and leave in 2-5 minutes
- Success = emergency lines less overloaded
- Success = platform rarely cited by media (we are not the source)
- Success = reduction of information noise, not increase
We do not seek audience. We seek usefulness.
End of the platform
This platform will stop being updated when authorities consider the emergency phase to be over.
It will then switch to archive mode:
- Frozen content
- Clear mention of archived status
- Preservation of factual timeline
Who is behind this site?
Citizen initiative developed voluntarily by Camilo Rivera.
This site is not affiliated with authorities but relays their official information.