• Resident Fellow

Givi Gigitashvili

Givi Gigitashvili is a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab). In this role, Gigitashvili investigates influence operations, social media manipulation, and FIMI campaigns targeting Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. Before joining the DFRLab in 2019, Gigitashvili worked as an international development consultant for Ecorys, an international research and consulting company, where he was providing research and consultancy services to a wide range of public and private clients in Eastern European countries.

Gigitashvili degrees from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (BA, Social Science), University of Tartu (MA, EU-Russia Studies), and King’s College London (Postgraduate Diploma, Strategic Communications). He has authored dozens of research reports and articles on disinformation, foreign influence operations, and information warfare. Gigitashvili speaks Georgian, English, Polish and Russian.

May 2022

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels in Russia outperforming channels critical of Kremlin

by Givi Gigitashvili

Top pro-Kremlin channels gain followers faster, reach more people, and have more subscribers than those critical of the Kremlin.
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May 2022

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels promote narrative that Poland will annex western Ukraine

by Roman Osadchuk, Givi Gigitashvili

Narrative relies on forged documents and fake images of billboards in Poland.
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April 2022

Russian War Report: Questions around metadata on video of Kherson explosion aftermath

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

In occupied Kherson, Russian media reported that Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian missile that they claim was aimed at a TV antenna, but metadata shows the report was shot hours before the explosions.
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