• Senior Fellow

Emerson T. Brooking

Emerson T. Brooking is a resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council and coauthor of LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media. He is an expert in the fields of disinformation, terrorist communication, and internet policy, and recently led an initiative to secure the integrity of the 2020 U.S. election. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he studied U.S. defense policy. Brooking has spoken regularly on the topic of information warfare and social media manipulation, advising multiple U.S. technology companies and national security entities.

Brooking’s coauthored November 2016 cover story for the Atlantic, “War Goes Viral,” predicted the widespread utilization of social media as a tool of warfare. He has published additional work in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and Rolling Stone, among others. Brooking has appeared regularly on broadcast media, including NPR’s “Fresh Air.”

Brooking holds a BA in Political Science and Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” Class of 2019 and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Some of Brooking’s publications include:


Americans Were Worried About the Wrong Threat

Op-Ed: For right-wing extremists, this was a victory

Foreign Influence Operations After 2020

The Head of US Intelligence Has Ceased to Be an Honest Broker

Dichotomies of Disinformation: Project Overview & Codebook

War Goes Viral

March 2022

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

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Military contractors from South Ossetia, Belarus' hesitancy to send troops, VPN's, the dilemma US tech companies face over Russian citizens' access, and more.
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March 2022

Russian War Report: Hacked news program and deepfake video spread false Zelenskyy claims

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

A deep fake of President Zelenskyy, Russia threatens to block YouTube, and an information fog surrounding the Russian TV journalist who conducted on-air protest.
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March 2022

Russian War Report: Putin endorses plan to bring 16,000 “volunteers” from the Middle East to fight in Ukraine

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Russia’s Defense Minister announced that more than 16,000 “volunteers” from the Middle East had expressed interest in joining Russia’s “liberation movement” for the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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