Messaging Platform

Wed, Dec 18, 2024

How inauthentic accounts exploit Telegram comments to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives

Analysis of more than 580,000 comments shows pattern of narrative attacks amplified via coordinated behavior; additional instances appeared in Facebook comments

by Roman Osadchuk, Iryna Adam, Givi Gigitashvili, Meredith Furbish

Conflict Facebook

Thu, Dec 12, 2024

Rise of unknown Romanian presidential candidate preceded by Telegram and TikTok engagement spikes

Network of Telegram channels helped previously obscure candidate Calin Georgescu reach 1.4 billion total views on TikTok

by Victoria Olari

Elections Romania

Tue, Dec 10, 2024

Cross-platform campaign in Georgia emphasizes China as an alternative to the United States

Pro-Russian and pro-government actors claim China respects Georgia’s sovereignty and can guarantee the country’s territorial integrity

by Sopo Gelava

Artificial Intelligence China

Mon, Nov 25, 2024

Russian milbloggers employed nuclear scare tactics following Ukrainian incursion of Kursk

Telegram channels claimed that Ukraine intended to attack Russian nuclear power plants, then exploited a site visit by IAEA Director Rafael Grossi

by Iryna Adam, Roman Osadchuk

Disinformation Russia

Fri, Oct 18, 2024

Malign interference in Moldova ahead of presidential election and European referendum

Pro-Russian influence tactics exploit divisive issues to undermine Moldova’s October 2024 election and EU referendum

by Victoria Olari, Daniela Calmis, Givi Gigitashvili

Disinformation Elections

Tue, Oct 8, 2024

Mysterious cross-border influence campaign sparks election controversy in Moldova

The campaign posed as Ukrainians and portrayed the Moldovan government as enforcing censorship

by Victoria Olari

Deceptive Content Manipulation Elections

Wed, Oct 2, 2024

The challenges of identifying deepfakes ahead of the 2024 Brazil election

The proliferation of deepfakes will be difficult to measure as Brazil prepares for municipal elections in October 2024

by Beatriz Farrugia

Artificial Intelligence Brazil

Mon, Sep 23, 2024

How the Venezuelan regime weaponized video and messaging apps to persecute dissidents

Maduro promotes app that encourages users to report critics of the regime amid widespread demands for election transparency

by Daniel Suárez Pérez, Iria Puyosa

Elections Online Harassment

Fri, Aug 23, 2024

How AI tools fueled online conspiracy theories after Trump assassination attempt

Deepfakes, cheapfakes, and AI-fueled scams spread online following the shooting; in other instances, real footage was dismissed as fake

by Beatriz Farrugia

Artificial Intelligence Elections

Mon, Jul 8, 2024

Spambots continue to suppress speech and enable harassment of the Chinese community on X

Networks of Chinese-language spambots risk the censoring of posts during politically sensitive events, repeating past oversights

Botnets China
Generative art showing paper airplanes flying over Red Square in Moscow.

Mon, Jun 10, 2024

Another battlefield: Telegram as a digital front in Russia’s war against Ukraine

In this new report, the DFRLab investigates the role of Telegram in Russia since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine

Conflict Disinformation

Mon, Jun 3, 2024

Tailored Russian disinformation targets Polish farmer protests

Kremlin-backed actors attempt to sow division between Poland and Ukraine

by Givi Gigitashvili

Conflict CrowdTangle