Spotlight
Latest Research
September 2023
Russian War Report: Competing claims about the possible death of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander
Following an attack by Ukrainian forces on the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, rumors swirled about the potential death of Russian Admiral Viktor Sokolov.
September 2023
Kink in the Chain: Eight Perspectives on Software Supply Chain Risk Management
Software supply chain attacks are popular, impactful, and are used to great effect by malicious actors. To dive deeper on this topic, we asked eight experts about these threats and how policymakers can help protect against them.
September 2023
Software Supply Chain Security: The Dataset
Want to dive deeper into the Breaking Trust database? You have come to the right place.
September 2023
Russian War Report: Black Sea military operations approach NATO countries’ waters
Plus, Zelenskyy expresses frustration at the UN, Russia seems unlikely to block YouTube, and the US drops new sanctions.
September 2023
Armenian and Azerbaijani Telegram channels incite violence against each other
Telegram channels routinely publish graphic footage and hate speech, fueling online outrage in a decades-old conflict
September 2023
Inauthentic Facebook network linked to Georgian government StratCom unit
Network targeted Georgians with narratives claiming support for Ukraine would lead to a Russian invasion of Georgia
September 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
September 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
September 2023
Russian media spread rumors accusing Baltic states of drone attack
Unsupported claims from Russian media and Telegram blamed Latvia and Estonia for perpetrating August 29 attack on Pskov airport
In-Depth Reports
August 2023
Protecting point-to-point messaging apps: Understanding Telegram, WeChat, and WhatsApp in the United States
A year-long project on protecting users’ data and privacy that analyzes the growing use of point-to-point messaging platforms in the United States and the implications their design and governing policies have for user privacy and free speech.
August 2023
Sudan’s precarious information environment and the fight for democracy
An examination of the time from December 2018, when protests against then-president Omar al-Bashir first broke out, and December 2022, when a framework agreement between civilian and military leaders came into play.
August 2023
Chinese discourse power: Capabilities and impact
An examination of China’s online and offline channels for the dissemination of “discourse power” and the mechanisms of oversight on which such communications rely.
July 2023
Critical Infrastructure and the Cloud: Policy for Emerging Risk
Critical infrastructure increasingly depends upon cloud computing. Policy must adapt its approach to risk management accordingly.
June 2023
The disinformation landscape in West Africa and beyond
A look at West Africa’s information environment, with particular emphasis on local and international disinformation campaigns targeting the region and beyond.
February 2023
A Parallel Terrain: Public-Private Defense of the Ukrainian Information Environment
The information environment is a key domain through which the war in Ukraine is being contested. By better understanding the key role that private tech companies play in this domain, the USs and Ukraine can better prepare for future threats.
December 2022
An introduction to the Freedom Online Coalition
The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is comprised of thirty-four member countries committed to advancing Internet freedom and human rights online.
August 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.
April 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.
Projects
Russian War Report
As Russia’s aggression in Europe heats up, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Moscow’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains.
Foreign Interference Attribution Tracker
The DFRLab’s Foreign Interference Attribution Tracker (FIAT) is an interactive, open-source database that captures allegations of foreign interference relevant to the 2020 election. This tool assesses the credibility, bias, evidence, transparency, and impact of each claim.
Election Official Handbook: Preparing for Election Day Misinformation
As part of the Election Integrity Partnership, the DFRLab has analyzed roughly four hundred cases of election-related dis- and misinformation on social media. This memo gathers the findings and issues recommendations for US election officials: they must prepare for viral falsehoods online that persist for weeks.
Dichotomies of Disinformation
Via the DFRLab’s Github: This project isolates “political disinformation campaigns.” Dichotomies of Disinformation proposes and tests a classification system built on 150 variable options. Our intent is to establish a replicable, extensible system by which widely disparate disinformation campaigns can be categorized and compared.
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