• Research Fellow, Baltics

Nika Aleksejeva

Nika Aleksejeva is a research fellow for the Baltics at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in Latvia.

Nika’s specific research interest is identifying, exposing and explaining disinformation on digital engagement spaces in the Baltic states and beyond. She has monitored Zapad 2017 military exercize and European elections in 2019. Nika has also lead the development of The News Hero, a media literacy game on Facebook, at the NATO Strategic Communication Center of Excellence (NATO Stratcom COE).

Nika comes from a journalism background – her work involved writing on business topics and making data-driven stories about energetics, global economic trends and education. Prior to joining NATO Stratcom COE she has been working with Infogram, a popular data visualization service.

Seeing the future in digital journalism, Nika works to improve quality journalism and build resilience to disinformation online. In her free time she works to empower Latvian journalists with data journalism skills by curating School of Data branch in Latvia.

March 2022

Russian War Report: Russian Duma members falsely claim Ukraine is creating ethnicity-targeting bioweapons

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Members of the Russian Duma accused Ukraine and the US of creating bioweapons and researching "regional infections aimed at Russian regions."
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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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