United States

Smartphone with the app from TikTok on the flags of the USA and China. (Source: Reuters)

Wed, Feb 14, 2024

TikTok: Hate the Game, Not the Player

How Strategic and Regulatory Confusion Around TikTok Prevent an Effective National Security Response

by Rose Jackson, Seth Stodder, Kenton Thibaut

Americas China

Thu, Dec 21, 2023

DFRLab research highlights from 2023

From the war in Ukraine to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, the DFRLab's international team of researchers investigated information operations and online harms around the world

by Andy Carvin, Layla Mashkoor

China Conflict

Tue, Sep 19, 2023

Pro-Kremlin groups mobilize online supporters to attack Tbilisi Pride Festival

Pro-Kremlin actors stormed the Tbilisi Pride Festival in July 2023, burning rainbow and Ukrainian flags

by Sopo Gelava

CrowdTangle Disinformation
Screencaps of a viral Douyin video of animated panda flight attendants welcoming Ya Ya’s arrival with the song, “Ya Ya Come Home.”

Thu, Sep 14, 2023

Panda exchange program targeted by misinformation, driving anti-US narratives in China

Chinese media capitalized on emotionally resonant rumors about alleged panda abuse in the United States amid deteriorating US-China relations

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Asia China
Neo-Nazis march in front of Los Angeles City Hall, April 17, 2010. (Source: Lionel Hahn/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters Connect)

Wed, Sep 6, 2023

Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives connect disparate neo-fascist groups

Neo-Nazi groups are taking their online collaborations offline as they continue to threaten LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities

by Meghan Conroy and Jon Lewis

Extremism United States
BANNER: A presidential runoff ballot at a polling station in Istanbul featuring incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, May 28, 2023. (Source: Reuters Connect/Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto)

Wed, May 31, 2023

Pro-government Twitter accounts push hashtag promoting Egypt’s support for human rights

Twitter accounts identified as part of a network promoting pro-government content initiated a hashtag in support of government actions

by Dina Sadek

Disinformation Economic Issue

Wed, Mar 29, 2023

TikTok in the dock

Whether or not the US bans TikTok, the real issue is the danger presented by all social media platforms as they currently operate, argues Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow Seth Stodder.

by Seth Stodder

Digital Policy Politics & Diplomacy

Thu, Sep 15, 2022

Notorious hate group website displayed prominently in Google search results

Google displays Patriot Front URL in search results sidebar despite blocking other racist website URLs from appearing there.

by Alyssa Kann

Electorate Extremism
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
The US Capitol, January 6, 2021.

Mon, Dec 20, 2021

2021: DFRLab’s year in review

The DFRLab's 2021 year in review: disinformation campaigns, troll farms, troop buildups, vaccine rumors, a failed insurrection, and more.

by Andy Carvin

Belarus COVID-19
DFRLab Democracy + Tech Initiative Director Rose Jackson testifies before the US Senate, December 9, 2021.

Fri, Dec 10, 2021

Democracy + Tech Initiative Director Rose Jackson Testifies to Senate

Rose Jackson, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)’s Democracy & Tech Initiative testified to the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband’s Thursday hearing on Disrupting Dangerous Algorithms: Addressing the Harms of Persuasive Technology.

United States United States and Canada

Thu, Dec 3, 2020

#StopTheSteal protest website tied to extremist-linked activist’s digital marketing firm

Website directed people to event information,

Elections Government