Nika Aleksejeva
Nika Aleksejeva is a research fellow for the Baltics at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), based in Latvia. Her research focuses on identifying, exposing, and explaining malign information influence campaigns across digital engagement spaces in the Baltic states and beyond. Her work has examined hostile Kremlin narratives concerning NATO’s enhanced forward presence (NATO eFP) in the Baltic states and Poland, disinformation surrounding COVID-19, the 2020 Belarus political crisis, and malign information influence campaigns related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Aleksejeva was among the first to uncover Sputnik’s covert strategy for expanding its reach on Facebook in 2019, as well as early signs of information operations known as Ghostwriter, Secondary Infection, and Doppelganger. More recently, she investigated networks of pro-Kremlin Telegram channels disseminating Russia’s propaganda globally. Her work has been featured in prominent media outlets such as Huffington Post, BBC, NBC, AP, Der Spiegel, and Politico, among others.
With a background in journalism, Aleksejeva’s previous reported on business topics and produced data-driven stories on global economic trends and education. Prior to joining NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (Stratcom COE), she worked with Infogram, a data visualization platform. Dedicated to strengthening quality journalism and resilience to online disinformation, she supports Latvian journalists by curating the School of Data branch in Latvia.
