Spotlight

Latest Research

September 2023

Russian War Report: Competing claims about the possible death of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

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.
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September 2023

Kink in the Chain: Eight Perspectives on Software Supply Chain Risk Management

by Cyber Statecraft Initiative

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.
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September 2023

Software Supply Chain Security: The Dataset

by Will Loomis, Stewart Scott, Trey Herr, Sara Ann Brackett, Nancy Messieh, and June Lee

Want to dive deeper into the Breaking Trust database? You have come to the right place.
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UN Security Council meets about Ukraine at UN HQ in New York
September 2023

Russian War Report: Black Sea military operations approach NATO countries’ waters

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Plus, Zelenskyy expresses frustration at the UN, Russia seems unlikely to block YouTube, and the US drops new sanctions.
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A protester reacts next to law enforcement officers during a gathering outside the government building following the launch of a military operation by Azerbaijani forces in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in Yerevan, Armenia, September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
September 2023

Armenian and Azerbaijani Telegram channels incite violence against each other

by Givi Gigitashvili

Telegram channels routinely publish graphic footage and hate speech, fueling online outrage in a decades-old conflict
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Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili speaks during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
September 2023

Inauthentic Facebook network linked to Georgian government StratCom unit

by Sopo Gelava, Eto Buziashvili

Network targeted Georgians with narratives claiming support for Ukraine would lead to a Russian invasion of Georgia
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September 2023

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

by Sopo Gelava

Pro-Kremlin actors stormed the Tbilisi Pride Festival in July 2023, burning rainbow and Ukrainian flags
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Screencaps of a viral Douyin video of animated panda flight attendants welcoming Ya Ya’s arrival with the song, “Ya Ya Come Home.”
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
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Russian paratroopers walk past an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane during ZAPAD 21 exercises in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, September 13, 2021. Satellite imagery suggests that drones destroyed four 1l-76 transports at Pskov airport on August 29, 2023. (Source: Reuters/Vitaly Nevar)
September 2023

Russian media spread rumors accusing Baltic states of drone attack

by Valentin Châtelet, Sayyara Mammadova

Unsupported claims from Russian media and Telegram blamed Latvia and Estonia for perpetrating August 29 attack on Pskov airport
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In-Depth Reports

Scaling Trust on the Web

February 2023

Narrative Warfare

February 2023

Undermining Ukraine

Telephone with messaging apps. “Protecting point-to-point messaging apps: Understanding Telegram, WeChat, and WhatsApp in the United States” cover image.
August 2023

Protecting point-to-point messaging apps: Understanding Telegram, WeChat, and WhatsApp in the United States

by Iria Puyosa

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.
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Democracy Derailed report cover art
August 2023

Sudan’s precarious information environment and the fight for democracy

by Tessa Knight, Lujan Alsedeg

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.
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A World Map Of China 3D Rendering - Chinese Discourse Power Cover graphic
August 2023

Chinese discourse power: Capabilities and impact

by Kenton Thibaut

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.
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July 2023

Critical Infrastructure and the Cloud: Policy for Emerging Risk

by Tianjiu Zuo, Justin Sherman, Maia Hamin, and Stewart Scott

Critical infrastructure increasingly depends upon cloud computing. Policy must adapt its approach to risk management accordingly.
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June 2023

The disinformation landscape in West Africa and beyond

by Tessa Knight, Jean le Roux

A look at West Africa’s information environment, with particular emphasis on local and international disinformation campaigns targeting the region and beyond.
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February 2023

A Parallel Terrain: Public-Private Defense of the Ukrainian Information Environment

by Emma Schroeder and Sean Dack

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.
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December 2022

An introduction to the Freedom Online Coalition

by Rose Jackson, Leah (Léa) Fiddler, Jacqueline Malaret

The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is comprised of thirty-four member countries committed to advancing Internet freedom and human rights online.
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CHINESE DISCOURSE POWER: ASPIRATIONS, REALITY, AND AMBITIONS IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN
August 2022

Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain

by Kenton Thibaut

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.
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Map of the global south in which China uses discourse power.
April 2022

China’s discourse power operations in the Global South

by Kenton Thibaut

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.
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Projects

Russian soldier and helicopter

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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