• 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.

November 2021

How RT DE spread COVID misinformation on YouTube

by Givi Gigitashvili, Jean le Roux

YouTube banned RT DE in September 2021 after the Russian network revived an old channel to avoid an initial suspension.
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November 2021

Suspicious Twitter accounts amplified hashtags ahead of Polish nationalist march

by Givi Gigitashvili

Accounts promoting a nationalist march in Poland exhibited multiple indicators raising questions of their authenticity.
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November 2021

Network of Facebook pages amplified Polish right-wing and tabloid media outlets

by Esteban Ponce de León, Givi Gigitashvili

Pages published the same links with identical text, often within a matter of seconds of each other
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