Indo-Pacific

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waves while leaving the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, August 3, 2022.

Tue, Sep 13, 2022

How Chinese social media reacted to Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

Interest in Pelosi visit skyrocketed on Weibo before news fatigue set in.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Disinformation
(Source: Budrul Chukrut / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)

Wed, Aug 31, 2022

How CSSAs reinforce official narratives to expat Chinese students on WeChat

The DFRLab analyzed WeChat articles from Chinese Students and Scholars Associations across the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Australia China
(Source: Avishek Das / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)

Wed, Aug 31, 2022

WeChat channels keep Chinese students in US tied to the motherland

How Chinese government perspectives are reinforced among Chinese students at US universities via WeChat.

by

China Electorate
CHINESE DISCOURSE POWER: ASPIRATIONS, REALITY, AND AMBITIONS IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN

Wed, Aug 24, 2022

Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain

The CCP has embarked on a concerted strategy to gain control over the global digital and information environment. Its goal: create an alternative global order with China at its heart.

by Kenton Thibaut

Wed, Jul 20, 2022

Twitter campaign targeting detained Indian activist based on misleading tweet

Teesta Setalvad, arrested for probing Modi’s role in 2002 Gujarat riots, targeted online by BJP supporters and other Hindu nationalists.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Civil Society Human Rights
russia china lithuania mairupol

Fri, Jun 24, 2022

Russian War Report: Pro-Kremlin Russian outlet refers to Russian troops in Mariupol as ‘occupiers’ 

News outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article that referred to Russian soldiers in Mariupol as "occupiers," but it was quickly deleted. Meanwhile, fires strike Russian oil and power plants, and Chinese media report on Russia-Lithuania dispute.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

US President Joe Biden departs Japan on May 24, 2022. (Source: Reuters/Kyodo Pictures)

Thu, May 26, 2022

Chinese netizens accuse Biden of using gaffes as a “strategic advantage”

Chinese social media accounts disparaged the US president by claiming Biden intentionally weaponizes his verbal gaffes.

China Government
Map of the global south in which China uses discourse power.

Wed, Apr 20, 2022

China’s discourse power operations in the Global South

An overview of China’s discourse power activities in the Global South, including the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. It outlines the processes through which China leverages its diplomatic, media, and political positions in these regions to gain influence, and assesses the impacts of these activities for democratic resilience worldwide.

by Kenton Thibaut

Servicemen of the military forces of South Ossetia attend an oath of allegiance ceremony in Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgia, July 5, 2015.

Fri, Mar 18, 2022

Russian War Report: Russia sends military contractors from Georgian breakaway region to Ukraine

Military contractors from South Ossetia, Belarus' hesitancy to send troops, VPN's, the dilemma US tech companies face over Russian citizens' access, and more.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

A network map of tweets containing the phrase #istandwithputin or istandwithputin between February 23, 2022 and March 4, 2022.

Thu, Mar 10, 2022

IStandWithPutin hashtag trends amid dubious amplification efforts

Over the week of February 28, 2022, the hashtag #IStandWithPutin trended in several regions, but a deeper look at the origin and amplification of the hashtag suggested this support was artificial.

by Jean le Roux

Africa Botnets
Bilibili video in support of Vladimir Putin overlaid by users with the war cry, “Ura!”

Tue, Mar 1, 2022

Top comments on Chinese social media criticize the West while supporting Putin

Most popular comments on Weibo and Bilibili express support for Russia invading Ukraine.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Electorate
Financing & Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region

Wed, Feb 16, 2022

Financing & genocide: Development finance and the crisis in the Uyghur Region

A joint report that reveals how the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has significant investments in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where indigenous peoples have been subjected to what international legislators, legal scholars, and advocates have determined to be a genocide.

by Laura T. Murphy, Kendyl Salcito, Nyrola Elimä