• Nonresident Senior Fellow
  • Head of Investigations, Graphika

Ben Nimmo

Ben Nimmo is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in the United Kingdom.

Ben Nimmo studies online disinformation and influence operations, with a particular focus on cross-platform operations. He is Head of Investigations at Graphika and a nonresident senior fellow at DFRLab. A former wire journalist and NATO press officer, he began his analytical career by developing the 4D model (dismiss, distort, distract and dismay) to predict disinformation. He has since studied information operations, bots and online campaigns stemming from Russia, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil and the United States, among others. He speaks a number of languages including Russian and Latvian. When he has free time, he goes scuba diving. He lives in fear of the day a smartphone which works underwater will become available. (Profile picture: Alexander Coggin for the New York Times.)

January 2018

#ElectionWatch: Protests Across Russia

by Ben Nimmo, Lukas Andriukaitis, and Nika Aleksejeva

On January 28, supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny took to the streets to call for a boycott of presidential elections.
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November 2017

Four Questions For Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Everyone Else

by Ben Nimmo and Graham Brookie

On October 31, Twitter, Facebook, and
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October 2017

Russia’s Soldier Selfie Ban Fights Open-Source Research

A law drafted by Russia’s ministry
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